Almost two weeks after the tragic events in Israel and Palestine, the EU is going to war – a war in the online space, thank goodness.
The European Commission gives TikTok and Meta a week to provide explanations and details on measures taken to contain, counter and eliminate the spread of terrorist, violent content and hate speech on their platforms (via Reuters).
The Commission has sent the formal request to the two companies as researchers point to the proliferation of disinformation following Hamas’ attack against Israel.
If the companies do not provide satisfactory explanations and can’t make a compelling argument about how this is not to happen in the future, the EU’s executive body can open investigations that can quickly result in fines. Major online platforms such as TikTok and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram are required to do more to take down illegal and harmful content or risk fines as much as 6% of their global turnover, according to new online content rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) that came into force recently.
Meta and TikTok “must provide the requested information to the Commission by 25 October 2023 for questions related to the crisis response and by 8 November 2023 on the protection of the integrity of elections”, the Commission said.
It’s nice that the EU doesn’t want to see “terrorist, violent content” on TikTok and Facebook. But what about seeing pro-terrorist, violent acts and protests in real life – on the streets of major European cities? Who do you impose a 6% fine on?
It took OnePlus a few years to actually put out their first foldable, but it really seems like it might be the best foldable on the market. The OnePlus Open is doing a lot of things that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 does not do. This includes offering double the storage, more than double the charging speed, a larger battery, much brighter displays, and a usable front-display.
Sure, some might argue that this is not OnePlus’ first foldable, because they are the same company as OPPO, who has released a number of foldables already. Which is fine, since the OPPO Find N3 is literally the same phone as the OnePlus Open. Just with an OPPO logo, and a few more color options. But OnePlus has really hit the foldable out of the park with the Open. Though I’m still not completely sold on the name here. It’s different, seeing as everyone else is using “Fold” in their name. But it still seems a bit odd.
Let’s find out if the OnePlus Open is the right foldable for you, in our full review.
OnePlus Open Review: Hardware and Design
OnePlus and OPPO have always built really well-made smartphones, and with the Open, you can see even more of that OPPO pedigree here in the hardware and design. On the back, OnePlus has included a pretty large camera bump, that looks similar to its other smartphones. So you can see that OnePlus design here on the Open. This camera bump does include three flagship-level cameras, which is quite impressive, and we’ll tough on that more in the camera section of this review.
But the camera bump does serve a nice purpose. And that’s making it easier to hold onto. I sometimes use the camera bump to hold onto the phone when using it in landscape to watch a video or something like that. It does make it pretty easy to hold onto, especially since the bezels on the OnePlus Open are pretty small already. It also makes it easier to hold onto when the phone is closed, since you can rest your finger below the camera, instead of holding the entire phone on your pinky. That poor pinky. It’s a small thing but it’s actually pretty genius in the design of the OnePlus Open.
The back of our unit is a black vegan leather back. Which is really nice to have. It makes it super grippy, and less likely to be dropped. It does come with a case in the box, but I’ve rarely used it, to be honest. It is a decent case, but the vegan leather back means it’s not really needed. At least in my opinion. If I were spending $1,700 on this phone, I’d definitely be using the case, or even buying another case for this phone. Make sure it’s nice and protected.
The frame here feels really high-end too. It’s made of Titanium Alloy, Carbon Fiber and a few other materials that make it strong without making it heavier. In fact, the OnePlus Open is super lightweight. It weighs 239g. That doesn’t sound light for a phone, but here are a few competitors’ weights: iPhone 15 Pro Max at 221g, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 at 253g, and Google Pixel Fold at 283g. That’s rather impressive, and it’s only heavier than the iPhone 15 Pro Max because Apple went with Titanium this year instead of sticking with Stainless Steel.
OnePlus has brought back the Alert Slider, which is always a crowd-favorite for OnePlus and now OPPO fans. It’s on the right side of the phone when opened, with the volume slider above the power button on the left side. So when it is closed, the Alert Slider is above the volume rocker. There’s loads of tactile feedback with the Alert Slider on the OnePlus Open too, making it very satisfying to switch up.
On the front of the phone, there’s a pretty small 6.31-inch 18:9 aspect ratio display. This smaller display makes the Open great for putting into your pocket, without taking up to much space. It does have the rounded corners like most displays, and you can see the frame around it, which I think looks really nice in this Voyager Black color, to be quite honest.
The hardware here reminds me of something Motorola would make. It’s an industrial design that is also stunning. And honestly, since I’ve received the OnePlus Open almost a month ago, it’s been tough to put it down. It’s such a great feeling phone, and it looks incredible too. And I just love everything about it. In fact, I’ve been using it so much that a lot of the pictures in my most recent reviews came from the OnePlus Open, instead of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The hinge
The hinge here on the OnePlus Open is really impressive. OnePlus was able to reduce the number of parts required for the hinge from over 100, to about 69 (nice). This means a thinner hinge and a more durable hinge. OnePlus says that the hinge has been certified for reliable folding by an international certification institute for over 1 million folds. That comes out to about 100 folds per day over 10 years. Now, obviously, there’s no way that we could have tested that out, in just a month. But even at 100 folds a day, that seems excessive, so this hinge should definitely last the life of the phone.
Another aspect of the hinge that shocked me is, when you open it, it almost springs open. You can still use it in tent mode, or at a 90-degree angle, but when you go past 90-degrees, it kind of springs open to 180-degrees. And yes, it does open completely flat, unlike the Pixel Fold that opens to about 178 or 179 degrees. That’s something I have to look at now with every foldable, since the Pixel Fold.
OnePlus Open Review: Displays
Both displays on the OnePlus Open are the best displays I’ve ever seen on a foldable. Why is that? Well, for one, they are crazy bright. There was a lot of talk about the Google Pixel 8 Pro sporting a 2400nit peak brightness display. And well, OnePlus has surpassed it – on a foldable. Both of these displays are 2800nit peak brightness. Making them super bright and a joy to use outside in direct sunlight. This is really impressive on a foldable because the folded screen is made of plastic, with an ultra thin layer of glass. And plastic is naturally very reflective. Making it hard to use in direct sunlight – the Pixel Fold was almost unusable outdoors.
The front display is a weird aspect ratio, around 20:9, with a resolution of 2482×1116 pixels. That gives it 431 pixels per inch, and almost a regular smartphone aspect ratio. For example, the recently released Pixel 8 Pro is a 20:9 aspect ratio. So because of this, using the front display becomes very natural, because it’s the same as a non-folding smartphone. Unlike the likes of the Galaxy Z Fold 5, which has a very skinny and tall front display. Making it harder to use.
That display is also a dynamic refresh rate display, able to go from 10Hz to 120Hz. Making it good for using Always-On Display. And conserving battery life as well.
OnePlus Open’s main display is simply stunning
Now let’s talk about that main display. It’s still basically a square display, like most book-style foldables. It has an aspect ratio of 1.0758:1. It also sports a nearly 2K resolution at 2440×2268, that’s giving you 426 pixels per inch. And it also has up to 2800 nits of peak brightness, or 1400 nits typical brightness. This is an LTPO display able to move dynamically from 1Hz to 120Hz.
OnePlus did not outfit the Open with huge bezels like the Pixel Fold (though, I do not really care that those bezels are so large, they make it easy to hold onto). Instead, they are pretty thin, and look really good actually, here. But the main thing with this main display is the crease. You might say “What crease?”. Exactly. OPPO has been working hard on recent foldables to basically get rid of the case. It was still very slightly noticeable on the OPPO Find N3 Flip that I recently reviewed. But on the OnePlus Open, I really only see it when looking for it. It’s more of a feeling than seeing, the crease here. And this is after using the phone for a month, meaning that it has been opened and closed many times, breaking in that crease. It’s honestly very impressive what OnePlus has managed to do here.
This is why this is the best display I’ve seen on a foldable so far. It’s very bright, very little crease, and still able to go from 1Hz to 120Hz. OnePlus really went all out here. And as they told us in our briefing last month, the Open does have “Over-the-top” specs.
The only real complaint I have here is that the longer side is on the y-axis, instead of the x-axis like the Find N2 and Pixel Fold. Which meant that you’d get tablet apps without rotating the phone. But with the Open, to get the tablet version of say Gmail, you do need to rotate the phone. It’s honestly not a big deal, but it is something to think about.
OnePlus Open Review: Performance
This is the part that everyone’s waiting on. The performance of OnePlus’ first foldable. And to keep it short, it’s very good. And exactly what you would expect from OnePlus.
Of course, that is very much expected here, when you look at the spec sheet. That includes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage to boot. That’s more RAM than Samsung’s foldables, double the storage, and it’s the same price. Making me wonder why you would buy the Galaxy Z Fold 5 over the OnePlus Open.
We’ve tested loads of phones running on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, so the performance here is not surprising at all. It’s a great chip, with really good battery efficiency. And that continues to be true here on the OnePlus Open. Adding in that extra RAM and storage, makes this a pretty beastly foldable.
As mentioned before, I’ve been using this phone off-and-on for about a month at this point. So that’s plenty of time to test out the performance of the Open, and it’s honestly incredible. I have not once gotten it to get hot at all. It does get a little bit warm when you use the camera for a long time, or do some long gaming sessions, but not uncomfortably hot.
Face Unlock and Fingerprint
Like most newer Android phones, the OnePlus Open does include both Face Unlock as well as a Fingerprint option. The fingerprint sensor is located in the power button, as it is on every foldable – because you don’t want to press down to hard on that main display. And I still believe this is the perfect spot for a fingerprint sensor. It’s fast, and it’s where you’re already pressing to turn on the phone.
Then there’s Face Unlock, which isn’t as strong as a fingerprint, but it does work and it is fast. Honestly, I had it on for a few days and then turned it off, as I was just using the fingerprint option all the time.
Speakers sound magnificent
OnePlus has outfitted the Open with a triple spatial speaker set up, and it also has Dolby Atmos included. So that means it should sound pretty incredible right? Right. OnePlus says that these speakers work in tandem with a proprietary spatial audio algorithm to take Dolby Atmos content to the next level. It also allows for three-dimensional sound that comes to users from all directions.
Basically what this means is that you can use the speakers on the OnePlus Open to watch videos and even listen to music, without your earbuds. I’ve been watching videos from YouTube, Peacock, Prime Video and more on the Open for the past few weeks, and it’s been a really incredible experience, to be quite honest. These are honestly some of the best speakers I’ve heard on a foldable. Which is rather unique since foldables generally use as much space as possible for the battery, while also trying to be super thin. OnePlus was able to add in some pretty powerful speakers, a larger battery and make the Open thinner than most foldables – except for the Honor Magic V2 and VS2.
OnePlus Open Review: Battery life and Charging
OnePlus can’t claim that it has the largest battery in a book-style foldable, unfortunately. Since the Google Pixel Fold is a tiny bit larger. But OnePlus was able to cram a 4,805mAh battery inside this pretty thin foldable. And paired with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, this thing sips on battery.
Most of the time, I was unplugging the OnePlus Open around 7am and using it throughout the day before putting it back on the charger around 11PM. And it often times had over 6 hours of screen on time, and about 30% left. On heavy days, I was able to push it to 10 hours of screen on time. Now that is right on-par with the OnePlus 11 when I tested that earlier this year. So in my experience, this also has the best battery life on a foldable, so far. Not night and day better than the Galaxy Z Fold 5, but this is one of those phones that can last me a solid two days, depending on the usage.
Charging is also a bright spot for the Open. And that’s for two reasons. One, the charger is included in the box. Two, it’s 67W SUPERVOOC charging, even though the charger is 80W. This charging means that it can fully charge the OnePlus Open in about 40-ish minutes. You won’t really need to top-up the phone, but when you do need to, the Open is great for it.
The only downside here is that there’s no wireless charging on the OnePlus Open. The company stated that they felt users wanted a bigger battery and faster wired charging, over offering wireless charging. Which I can get, and the faster charging is definitely nice to have here. But wireless charging is just so convenient. OnePlus does tend to flip-flop on their stance on wireless charging. Keeping it in some of its flagships and removing it in others to lower the price. The good thing here, is that the charger is available in the box.
OnePlus Open Review: Software
Before we jump into the software on the OnePlus Open, let’s talk about how many updates this will get. OnePlus is promising 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security updates. That’s pretty good, and stays with the competition – except for the new Pixel 8 series which offers 7 years. It’s pretty good, and I doubt many will still be using their OnePlus Open after 4 or 5 years. Most people buying this phone are early adopters. So good job OnePlus.
The OnePlus Open is launching with Android 13 and OxygenOS 13.2. It should be getting Android 14 and OxygenOS 14 before the end of the year. So a lot of the main features of this phone are the same as the OnePlus 11. But there are quite a few great features here that help to make that larger display a lot easier to use.
OnePlus claims that the Open is the perfect choice for entertainment, and they aren’t wrong. Why? Because you can run three apps on the main display at the same time. You can have a YouTube video playing across the top or bottom, or even in Picture-in-Picture, with two other apps open. So while you’re watching your favorite YouTuber, you can also be on X/Twitter seeing what’s going on.
This is part of the Open Canvas feature that OnePlus built for the Open. It was built from the ground-up, and about 95% of apps are compatible with the extended display, without putting it into a weird resizing. You can stretch and resize the apps to fit however you want on the screen. You can also push apps off the screen, or use a floating window. It takes multi-tasking to the next level. You can also save these app combos, so you can quickly jump back into these apps. OnePlus lets you save up to nine app combos.
OnePlus also has the desktop-like Taskbar that Google added to foldables with the Android 12L update a couple of years ago. But OnePlus has made it even better. OnePlus has added a button to the left side that will open the app drawer, making it quicker to jump into apps. And there is also a button for the file manager. This file manager has three tabs for images, documents and others. So say you are typing up an email in Gmail, and need to attach a photo, just tap on the file manager and then you can drag-and-drop a photo into that email, or a document to attach to that email. It’s not something I have used a lot, but the few times I have used, it’s been really nice to have.
The Taskbar does also add three of your most recently used apps to the right side of the dock. Which makes for switching apps a whole lot faster. And so you’ll never have to actually go to the home screen.
OnePlus is also allowing users to adjust the display size of apps, on a per-app basis. This is actually a feature that Google just added to the Pixel Fold on the Android 14 QPR 1 Beta. So it’s good to see that OnePlus is ahead of things here. You can choose full screen, 16:9 or 4:3 for the size. This is great for apps like Instagram, however now that Instagram’s foldable layout has rolled out to other foldables, it’s not needed as much. Basically, all it has done is moved the bottom bar to the side. But it is a big change that makes it a lot easier to use.
OxygenOS also runs very smoothly on the OnePlus Open, which is great to see. It should be expected, with the hardware that’s here, but it is good to see. During my time with it, I have not seen the OnePlus Open slow down at all. I have seen some force closing of apps, but I’ve chopped that up to the apps being beta versions – like Instagram and X. Which was actually fixed after a day, so I’m 100% sure that this was an issue in the beta version of Instagram and the beta version of X.
OnePlus Open Review: Camera
This is honestly my favorite part about this phone. The cameras on this phone are incredible. There’s a triple camera setup here on the Open, which includes the new Sony LYT-T808 “Pixel Stacked” sensor as the main sensor. This is a rather unique sensor and it’s fairly new from Sony. But it stacks pixels, so it can bring in more light, in less space, giving what OnePlus says is “almost 1-inch sensor” results. This is a 48-megapixel sensor, with a f/1.7 aperture and the pixels themselves are 1.12um, which is quite large. This is a 24mm equivalent lens.
On the telephoto, OnePlus is using an OmniVision OV64 with 3X optical zoom and 6X in-sensor zoom. This is a 70mm equivalent lens, with 64-megapixels and a f/2.6 aperture. The third camera is the ultrawide, which is a Sony IMX581. This is also a 48-megapixel lens with a f/2.2 aperture and it’s a 14mm equivalent.
These sensors are once again tuned by Hasselblad, and it really seems like this partnership is starting to bear fruits for OnePlus and Hasselblad. Because each sensor is really incredible. Not to mention the fact that OnePlus lets you choose from 24mm, 28mm or 35mm as the default option for the main lens. This is the same as the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and it’s honestly a feature that I hope gets put onto every other phone coming out over the next year. Being able to shoot in 35mm by default on a phone is incredible. Suffice to say that is the default for me here.
35mm is the correct default focal length
OnePlus invited most of the US and Canadian media to New York City in late-September for a one-day summit on the OnePlus Open. Which consisted of a briefing about the device, as well as a cruise down the Hudson River (with Tacos!) to really try out the OnePlus Open. So I got a lot of photos that day with the OnePlus Open, and was able to try out the night mode too. But by far my favorite mode is setting the default focal length at 35mm. You can do this by going into the Camera Settings, then tapping on “Default wide-ange focal length”. Which then gives you 24mm, 28mm and 35mm.
35mm is great because it gives you a really natural bokeh effect, And it’s zoomed in a little bit, but not a ton. You can check out a number of 35mm shots I took with the OnePlus Open in the gallery below.
Here are a bunch of photos taken at the default focal length of 24mm. These still look great, however when you jump to 35mm, you get a bit more depth of field, which can make photos look a lot more dramatic.
This Telephoto lens is unreal
The thing that really shocked me with this camera setup was the telephoto lens. This is a 3X optical lens, but because the lens is so large, OnePlus is able to crop in and give you a 6X optical zoom, and keeping it lossless. Meaning that you can take some incredible 6X zoom shots. It can also go all the way up to 125X (Galaxy S23 Ultra who?), though as you’d expect a lot of those shots are not worth it.
In the gallery below, you’ll see a number of shots using the 6X optical zoom here, and a bunch were taken at night on a boat in choppy water in the Hudson River. Which made it even more impressive in my opinion. A few shots were a bit blurry, and given the conditions, I can forgive it. But most came out really well here. And helped me fall in love with the OnePlus Open.
So why is this all such a big deal? Well, on foldables, typically they get older flagship cameras, or a step down from a flagship camera. They generally aren’t quite as good, but that’s not the case here. The OnePlus Open might have the best cameras on a smartphone this year. Google’s Pixel 8 Pro is doing a good job of competing with it, but a lot of what Google does is fixing stuff in post. Everything I’ve shown you in this camera section was unedited and taken with the default settings. And that makes this even more impressive.
Here are some shots taken with the telephoto lens at 3x and 6x.
Should you buy the OnePlus Open?
Despite my love for the OnePlus Open, it’s still tough to recommend it. Mainly due to the price. This is a $1,699 phone at the end of the day. And while it does a lot of things right, not everyone can afford to, or wants to spend that much on a phone. And I completely understand. Of course, part of what makes this tough for OnePlus is that it is not going to be available on carriers (it does work on all three US carriers though). So customers won’t be able to take advantage of the crazy trade-in deals that some carriers tend to offer.
At the end of the day, the decision is up to you. And if you’ve been thinking about getting a foldable, there’s no better option than the OnePlus Open as your first foldable experience. And that’s because OnePlus was able to sit back and see all the mistakes that other companies did with their early foldable devices, Samsung is on their fifth-generation foldable, and they are pretty far behind the OnePlus Open right now, surprisingly.
You should buy the OnePlus Open if:
You want the best all-around experience from a foldable.
You want flagship-level cameras.
You want a foldable that can charge fast.
You should not buy the OnePlus Open if:
You don’t want to spend over $1,000 on a phone.
You aren’t comfortable with a phone that could break.
Threat actors are doubling down on brand impersonation by using lookalike domain names.
Threat actors are known for impersonating popular brands in order to trick users. In a recent malvertising campaign, we observed a malicious Google ad for KeePass, the open-source password manager which was extremely deceiving. We previously reported on how brand impersonations are a common occurrence these days due to a feature known as tracking templates, but this attack used an additional layer of deception.
The malicious actors registered a copycat internationalized domain name that uses Punycode, a special character encoding, to masquerade as the real KeePass site. The difference between the two sites is visually so subtle it will undoubtably fool many people.
We have reported this incident to Google but would like to warn users that the ad is still currently running.
Malicious ad for KeePass
The malicious advert shows up when you perform a Google search for ‘keepass’, the popular open-source password manager. The ad is extremely deceiving as it features the official Keepass logo, URL and is featured before the organic search result for the legitimate website.
By simply looking at the ad, you would have no idea that it is malicious.
Figure 1: Malicious ad for KeePass followed by legitimate organic search result
People who click on the ad will be redirected via a cloaking service that is meant to filter sandboxes, bots and anyone not deemed to be a genuine victim. The threat actors have set up a temporary domain at keepasstacking[.]site that performs the conditional redirect to the final destination:
Figure 2: Network traffic showing the sequence of redirects upon clicking the ad
ķeepass.info
Looking at the network traffic log above, we can see that the destination site uses Punycode, a special encoding to convert Unicode characters to ASCII. The deception is complete for users who may want to verify that they are on the right website.
Figure 3: The fake KeePass site with a barely noticeable different font
While it is barely noticeable, there is a small character under the ‘k’. We can confirm it by converting the internationalized domain name xn--eepass-vbb[.]info to ķeepass[.]info:
Figure 4: Converting Punycode to ASCII
Decoy site links to malicious download
While the decoy site is not an exact replica of the real one, it still looks very convincing:
Figure 5: Comparing the legitimate site (left) with the fake one (right)
Victims wanting to download KeePass will retrieve a malicious .msix installer that is digitally signed:
Figure 6: The malicious MSIX installer showing a valid digital signature
Extracting the installer’s content reveals malicious PowerShell code that belongs to the FakeBat malware family:
Figure 7: The contents of the MSIX installer
This script communicates with the malware’s command and control server to advertise the new victim before downloading a payload that sets the stage for future recon by human threat actors.
Figure 8: Process view showing execution of the MSIX installer
A more sophisticated threat
While Punycode with internationalized domain names has been used for years by threat actors to phish victims, it shows how effective it remains in the context of brand impersonation via malvertising. Users are first deceived via the Google ad that looks entirely legitimate and then again via a lookalike domain.
As we have noted recently, malvertising via search engines is getting more sophisticated. For end users this means that it has become very important to pay close attention where you download programs from and where you should avoid them. In a business environment, we recommend IT admins provide internal repositories where employees can retrieve software installers safely.
Malwarebytes EDR and MDR removes all remnants of ransomware and prevents you from getting reinfected. Want to learn more about how we can help protect your business? Get a free trial below.
Samsung may be very close to releasing the stable One UI 6.0 update with Android 14 for the Galaxy S23 series. It has just rolled out a new beta build with a relatively small download size. The changelog also doesn’t mention any known issues or bug fixes. New beta updates are also available for the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and Galaxy Z Flip 3.
Galaxy S23 series gets its eighth One UI 6.0 beta update
The frequency of One UI 6.0 beta updates for the Galaxy S23 series has gone up in recent weeks. Samsung has so far released eight beta builds for the phones, with four of them coming in a span of just over three weeks. The gap between the seventh and the eighth release is just three days. This indicates that the stable update is almost here.
If that isn’t a big hint, the latest update comes with a changelog that mentions nothing. Rolling out with the build number ZWJI (last four characters), the package has a download size of just over 480MP. All of this suggests Samsung is done ironing out bugs and other anomalies and is now readying the Galaxy S23 phones for the stable One UI 6.0 release.
We don’t yet have a date for the rollout. However, if you enrolled your Galaxy S23 into Samsung’s One UI 6.0 beta program, make sure to install the latest release. We have confirmation about its availability in Germany, India, and the UK. Beta users in other regions (China, Poland, South Korea, and the US) can also expect to receive it in the coming days.
Galaxy Z Fold 5, Fold 3, and Flip 3 are also getting new beta updates
Along with the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung is also running One UI 6.0 beta programs for a bunch of other Galaxy phones. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 has already received two beta updates and is now picking up its third. The latest build is rolling out with firmware version ZWJ8. The OTA (over-the-air) package has a size of 771MB (via) and brings several bug fixes.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, on the other hand, are just joining the beta program. Samsung is pushing the first One UI 6.0 beta update to the two 2021 foldables. If you’re interested in participating, you can check for the availability of the program in your region from the Samsung Members app. All of these phones should get a stable update before the end of the year.
Samsung‘s next-gen mid-range chipset will seemingly feature an AMD GPU. A benchmark listing has revealed that the Exynos 1480 will include the Xclipse 530 custom GPU. Considering the Xclipse branding, it should come with AMD’s RDNA 2 graphics technology. The new chip will power the Galaxy A55 and a few other phones in 2024.
Samsung readying Exynos 1480 with AMD-powered Xclipse 530 GPU
Samsung teamed up with AMD in 2019 to make custom mobile GPUs based on the latter’s Radeon architecture previously exclusively used for PC graphics. The partnership led to the creation of the smartphone industry’s first GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing capability. The Exynos 2200 chip that powered the Galaxy S22 series last year was the first to feature the AMD-powered GPU, called the Xclipse 920.
The two firms were widely expected to bring the custom graphics solution to mid-range Exynos chips as well. However, Samsung launched the Exynos 1380 earlier this year (which powers the Galaxy A54) with ARM’s Mali-G68 GPU. It appears next year’s Exynos 1480 will finally get an AMD-powered GPU. A Geekbench listing for the chip confirms the Xclipse 530 GPU (via).
Unfortunately, we don’t have additional information about the chip or its graphics powers. So it’s unclear whether it offers ray tracing. We have little hope, though. It’s a premium feature limited to high-end products. Since the Xclipse 530 is less powerful than the Xclipse 920, it may not offer ray tracing. The Galaxy S24’s Exynos 2400, meanwhile, is expected to offer improved ray tracing thanks to the new Xclipse 940 GPU.
The new mid-range Exynos chip could bring a performance boost
The benchmark listing for the Exynos 1480 contains a few more takeaways. Firstly, we now know that it bears the model number S5E8845. Second, we have its CPU speeds. The octa-core chip features four ARM CPU cores clocked at 2.75GHz and four at 2.05GHz. That’s a slightly faster CPU than the Exynos 1380, whose performance cores are clocked at 2.4GHz and efficiency cores at 2GHz.
With a faster CPU and a custom AMD GPU, the Exynos 1480 should bring a notable performance boost over its predecessor. The Geekbench scores suggest the same too. The new chip achieved a score of 882 in single-core tests and 2,808 in multi-core tests. In comparison, the Exynos 1380 scored 776 and 2,599, respectively. Hopefully, these improvements will translate into improved real-life performance too. The Exynos 1480 should debut with the Galaxy A55 in or around March 2024. You can expect more leaks and rumors about the phone in the coming months.
We live in a world where misinformation has won the war against accurate reporting, and as much as we try to remind us that we shouldn’t jump the gun every time we read something outrageous, more often than not the damage is done even after the truth comes to surface.
In an attempt to prevent some of the misinformation from running rampant, YouTube introduced a dedicated watch experience for news stories. All the content present on this page is pulled from “authoritative sources” across video on demand, live streams, podcasts, and Shorts.
To start watching news stories, simply open the dedicated page, and click on a video with the newspaper icon on the homepage or in search results.
YouTube announced that the new feature is rolling out in waves for mobile users in about 40 countries, with desktop and living room integration coming later on.
In addition to the news watch experience, YouTube is launching the Shorts Innovation Program for News, which is supposed “to strengthen news organizations’ short-form video capabilities through financial grants and specialist support.”
The project starts with 20 organizations across 10 countries, and an initial investment of $1.6 million USD. YouTube says participants will be selected based on “having a strong existing long-form video presence” on the platform.
QRLJacking tricks you with fake QR codes to log into fake websites or apps, while Quishing uses QR codes to deceive you into visiting malicious sites or downloading malware.
Quick Response Codes (aka QR Codes) have made life hassle-free for everyone as these versatile codes offer access to everything. However. according to SaaS-based cloud messaging security firm SlashNext, this versatility of QR codes makes them a potential target of exploitation. And, the company has discovered several ways in which threat actors are exploiting QR codes.
Security experts have noted a spike in QR-code-based phishing attacks, highlighting how easy it is to manipulate them. Since the codes can encode complex data and redirect users to external apps/websites, adversaries try to manipulate them. SlashNext’s research revealed two prominent methods threat actors are relying on to exploit QR codes- Quishing and QRLJacking.
Quishing attack is offered on cybercrime forums to facilitate phishing-for-hire services. In this attack, a QR code embedded with malware download or phishing link is circulated on different platforms/channels such as social media, posters, restaurant menus, ads, and phishing emails. When someone scans it, they are redirected either to a phishing website or malware gets downloaded on their devices.
Cofense discovered a similar phishing campaign in August 2023, where attackers used malicious QR codes to target high-profile organizations, including a US energy firm.
QRLJacking (quick response code login jacking) is a social engineering-based method exploiting the login with QR code feature in apps and websites and mostly exploits frequently expiring QR codes. If successful, the attack can lead to a complete account takeover.
In QRLJacking, the adversary creates a phishing site identical to the login page of their targeted website/app and creates a fake QR code. The phishing link is sent to the victim through messaging apps, email, or SMS.
When the code is scanned, they get logged into the bogus session and not the real app, and their sensitive data such as access tokens are stolen. An incident of QRLJacking was reported in August 2023 by cybersecurity researcher Cristian ‘void’ Giustini targeting the Steam gaming platform.
“Phishing Email with Malicious QR Code Targeting Microsoft Users and Steam’s QR-Enabled Phishing Page”
In a blog post, Daniel Kelley of SlashNext wrote that attackers can employ a wide range of techniques to exploit QR codes, such as:
Phishing: Through phishing attacks, threat actors can exploit QR codes to redirect users to bogus websites mimicking legitimate ones, and lure them into entering sensitive data like financial information or login credentials.
Malware Distribution: Cybercriminals can embed QR codes with links that deploy malware on the user’s devices and allow them to gain unauthorized access.
Social Engineering: QR codes can be manipulated to display misleading information/promotion offers to trick users into taking actions that offer monetary benefits to the attacker.
Being cautious is essential to protect yourself against QR code-based attacks. Always scan QR codes from trusted sources and cross-check the destination URL before scanning. Regularly update anti-virus software. Organizations should implement secure QR code generation and management systems and conduct security audits of QR code usage regularly.
Xiaomi has confirmed that the Xiaomi 14 series will utilize the “best in the field” Summilux sensor. The company confirmed as much via its official Weibo (China’s social media network) account.
The Xiaomi 14 series will use the “best in the field” Leica Summilux lens
Xiaomi and Leica have been cooperating for years now, and as expected, the partnership will continue. The Xiaomi 14 will not only bring a new Leica lens, but will have a new image sensor too. We don’t know which one yet, though.
Another detail Xiaomi confirmed is the fact that the Xiaomi 14 series will launch this month. The company did not share the exact launch date just yet, but we can guess. October 27 was rumored recently, and then an image surfaced claiming the event will occur on October 31.
That image, suggesting the HyperOS launch date, did seem rather compelling, even though it did not come from a specific source. We do know that HyperOS will launch alongside the Xiaomi 14 series, so they’re coming on the same date.
The Xiaomi 14 & Xiaomi 14 Pro will launch in China this month
Either way, the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro will launch before the end of this month in China. The global launch will occur too, but it’ll likely happen next year. Xiaomi could surprise us and organize it before the end of this year, but that’s not as likely.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is also coming, to those of you who are wondering, but that’ll likely happen next year. Either way, Xiaomi did not talk about that device at all just yet. It is simply referring to upcoming devices as the Xiaomi 14 series, but all the rumors point to the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro.
Both of those smartphones will utilize Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. That chip will launch in a couple of days, during the annual Snapdragon Summit. These two phones will be amongst the first, if not the first, to utilize this chip.
Netflix is raising prices for two of its streaming plans. The Basic and Premium Netflix plans will now cost more than they did a few months ago. Netflix announced the price increases to these plans in their shareholder briefing document, where it touched on a lot of issues. Under the monetization and growth section of the document, the company announces its increase in the pricing for Basic and Premium plans in certain regions.
Netflix is raising prices again, two streaming plans affected
Yes, the coming change to the pricing of the Basic and Premium plans will stay the same in certain regions. The area of focus for this increase at this point is the US market, where both will get $2 in addition to their previous pricing. In other regions, the prices of all Netflix subscription plans will stay the same without any adjustments.
Instead of $9.99 for the Basic plan, subscribers will soon start paying $11.99 for this plan. As for Premium subscribers, they’ll have to pay $22.99 in place of the $20.99 which was the price a few weeks ago. At the moment, there is no information as to when the new prices from Basic and Premium plans will go live in the US.
Streamers in the US should prepare to see the price hike of two Netflix problems
This isn’t the first time that Netflix has hiked prices for different subscription plans in different regions. It appears that the price increase has been part of Netflix’s plans for quite a while now. The streaming service provider only held off on these increments as a result of making paid sharing available to users.
Over the past few months, Netflix has been fighting to bring an end to password sharing. Netflix’s struggles in this regard are finally paying off as the company is seeing more subscribers on their platform. Now the company plans to “refine and optimize” its approach to business to get more subscribers over the next few months.
This will affect just the US… for now
After gaining more subscribers and bringing an end to password sharing, Netflix is ready to increase subscription prices. This increment will affect just the US for now, and there’s no information on whether other regions will also see this hike. In the US, the Basic and Premium plan will see a $2 increment on their current prices.
As for the new ads’ subscription plan, it will not see any price increment. At just $6.99 this plan with ads is the choice for lots of streamers on a budget. This plan was recently introduced to netizens during the Netflix fight against helicopters.
The streaming service provider is already making a lot of plans for the coming months. These plans include adding more games to Netflix, bringing retail destinations to locations around the world, and so much more. In the coming months, more details on Netflix’s plans will become available.
Earlier in August this year, we let you know that WhatsApp was testing a cool feature—support for multiple accounts—for its beta users. This nifty capability is especially handy for people juggling two SIM cards on their smartphones, one for personal use and the other for business. Now, the good news is this feature is making its way to all of WhatsApp’s 2.7 billion users.As per the official announcement, WhatsApp is rolling out the ability to have two accounts logged in simultaneously within the official app. This change is kicking off today, so keep an eye out for it on your Android and iOS devices.
With this new feature, you won’t need to go through the hassle of logging out each time or carrying two phones. Setting up a second account requires either a second phone number and SIM card or a phone that supports multi-SIM or eSIM.
To use two accounts, simply dive into your WhatsApp settings, click on the arrow next to your name, and hit “Add account”. You get the added bonus of controlling privacy and notification settings for each account separately.
Previously, people with two phone numbers had to either lug around two phones or deal with installing dual apps on specific Android skins and using the WhatsApp Business app on iOS, which, let’s be real, was a bit of a hassle. So, the support for two accounts at once is a welcome update.
