Wednesday 10 October 2012

5-common-security-mistakes-put-privacy-money-risk/


 security mistakes

How vulnerable are you? Ask any person who’s been robbed if it came as a surprise – I guarantee you it did. As the saying goes, the thief always comes in the night when you’re sleeping, when you’re least prepared. But even when you’re awake, you might be passively committing security mistakes, thus inviting hackers and crackers to fiddle with your things.
Privacy and money are arguably the two most important things when it comes to the whole concept of security. We all want to protect our identities, our privacies, and definitely our financials. No one looks forward to the day when they check their bank statements and sees nothing but zeroes – or even worse, negatives.
Here are some of the most common security mistakes that are committed by computer users all over the world. Neglecting any of these will open you up to a world of vulnerability and put you only one or two steps away from identity theft, malware infections, or worse.

Mistake #1: Not Updating Anti-Malware

This is one of the most prevalent security tips out there: install anti-malware software and keep it updated! Yet as widespread as it is, people still ignore it. If you’re reading this and you don’t have an anti-virus or anti-malware program setup, go and do it now! There are plenty of top-quality FREE anti-malware programs out there. I personally use Advanced SystemCare and MalwareBytes.
But just having one isn’t enough. You have to keep it updated – not just the program itself, but also the database of potential threats. Most programs have the option for automatically updating on a schedule or whenever you open the program. Keep them up-to-date or else they won’t keep you protected against the latest and greatest threats.

Mistake #2: Not Using A Firewall

security mistakes
Few are the people who use anti-malware software. Fewer are the people who use both anti-malware and a firewall. “Do I need to use both?” you might ask, and the answer is a resounding, “YES!” Anti-malware and firewalls are not the same things. They fulfill two different purposes, thus you will need both to keep yourself as secure as possible.
Think of a firewall as like a fence whereas anti-malware software is more like a shotgun. The fence is a general-purpose protective barrier that keeps out most unwanted intruders. However, your fence will occasionally have holes that allow entry by certain thieves. The fence does a lot of the work, but the shotgun comes in handy when the fence is breached.
In the same way, a firewall will keep out most malicious intentions. However, when a particular virus or Trojan makes it through and onto your computer, that’s when the anti-malware program comes in to clean up the mess.

Mistake #3: Unsafe Email Habits

After so many years, after the introduction of blogs, instant messaging, social networking, and everything else, email is still one of the most popular ways to communicate over the Internet. It’s also one of the most frequent ways in which users fall into the hands of scammers. Losing your identity because of a sneaky email can be devastating.
Beware of phishing scams. Learn how to identify them and learn to avoid them like an angry swarm of wasps. If you receive an unsolicited email that seems sketchy, do not open it. Do not respond to it. Send it straight to the trash bin. But how will you identify a phishing scam? Look for fake phone numbers and addresses. Multiple spelling or grammar issues are often a dead giveaway, too. And if you don’t recognize the sender, always assume it’s spam.
There are lots of other email procedures you should observe to maximize your security. Here are 7 important email security tips you should know. Otherwise, just stay alert and keep an eye out for fishy emails (no pun intended).

Mistake #4: Universal & Stagnant Passwords

security mistakes users make
Password security can be tricky. Not because it’s difficult to find a strong password – which can be generated for free using any number of online password generators – but because password security is inconvenient. When I type in my password to log onto Facebook, I’m not thinking about how secure my password is. I’m thinking about what I’m going to say to my friend.
And in the interest of convenience, we tend to use the same password over and over again. My Gmail password becomes my Facebook password, which also becomes my forum password, and so on. But the problem here is that if anyone discovers your singular password, they can use it to unlock the rest of your accounts. Bad idea.
The solution, then, is to use different passwords for different accounts. But don’t stop there! Once a year, you should also change your passwords to something new.

Mistake #5: Giving Away Personal Information

security mistakes
Have you ever seen a sitcom or a comedy movie where someone accidentally lets slip an important piece of information? On the big screen, it might be funny, but it’s a pain in the butt when it happens in real life–and it doesn’t always happen in idle conversation.
In the world of video games, a vast majority of the perpetrators for hacked accounts are close friends or relatives of the account holder. You give your password to them so they can play on your account, then they stab you in the back and steal it. This could happen with Gmail, Facebook, or any other account that you share.
Or you might accidentally show your credit card number or social security number to someone. You might think it’s okay since that person is your friend, but you can never be too sure.
The best policy is this – if you don’t want the whole world to know about it, it’s best to keep it to yourself. That applies to passwords, PIN numbers, SSN numbers, CC numbers, home addresses, and anything else that could count as personal information. Keep your guard up.
Each and every one of the security mistakes listed in this article has the potential to really screw up your life. Sure, maybe you’ve shared your account with someone before or you’ve been using the same password for ten years and nothing bad has happened to you. Great! I’m glad that you’ve been so fortunate. But there are times when I’ve left my front door unlocked and I haven’t been robbed–that doesn’t mean it was a smart move.
Avoid making these mistakes and your personal security will be much stronger. You owe it to yourself. Stay safe and stay alert.

The Internet & The World Wide Web Are Not the Same Thing


 internet vs world wide web

The two terms “Internet” and “World Wide Web” have been used interchangeably ever since the Internet itself became a household “utility” as common as electricity or cable TV. People talk about “surfing the web” and “searching the Internet” like the two terms are one and the same.
Are you one of those people? It may be surprising for a lot of people to learn that the basic foundation of the two terms are very distinct. They were defined at a time when the Internet was first being formed, and despite the fact that people use them to refer to the same thing, they are actually very different pieces of the overall network we call the World Wide Web.

In this article, I’m going to separate these two terms into the pieces of the global network they represent. On the one hand, the Internet represents the hardware of the net – the infrastructure that is laid out and operates with a common protocol that makes everything all work. On the other hand, the World Wide Web is the software of the net – the vast network of applications and protocols that make everything communicate and “talk”. It is almost literally a “web” of links between not only the individual Internet access points, but also the millions, billions or trillions of individual links that form the massively growing network.

Internet vs. World Wide Web

So, basically, picture the global network we know as the Internet as made up of two layers. Picture a “solid” layer made up of all of the wires, servers, routers, switches, computers and everything else that makes up the physical networks across the entire world. That’s what we’ll call the “Internet”.


How The Internet is Designed

Here’s the Reader’s Digest version of how the Internet came to be. The Internet was an infrastructure with a foundation going as far back as 1969 and the U.S. DoD’s Advanced Research Project Agency’s effort to create a strong communication network in case of war. This physical network connected critical Universities working on Defense projects with government and military departments.  Eventually “ARPAnet” grew and transformed into the impressive system that we now know today as the “Internet”.
The World Wide Web, on the other hand, is the brains of the whole thing.  Take all of that hardware and infrastructure and picture installing software onto those servers and computers. These would include Internet browsers and other software that can communicate via the TCP/IP protocol that everything connected to the Internet uses to “talk”.
internet vs world wide web
These days, you’re not just talking computers and web browsers. People now physically connect to the Internet with devices like tablets, smartphones, music devices, game stations, cable TV devices and even things like digital photo frames and digital cameras. Lots of devices are becoming “internet-enabled”, giving those devices the ability to connect to that massive Internet infrastructure through your home “access point”.
So, how does that all work? There you are with your tablet or laptop and you’re typing “www.makeuseof.com” into the web browser. Once you hit “enter”, you are requesting information from the World Wide Web – the software-based web of connections and information. The flow of your traffic once you hit the enter key looks like this.
internet vs www
From your computer, your request goes out of your router and to your ISP (Internet Service Provider). The traffic for that URL is directed based on the configuration of DNS servers in your area. Every registered domain is listed in DNS servers around the world – the entire purpose of those servers is to provide the IP address where information (web pages) are stored. The DNS server reports back with the IP information, so now the ISP knows where to go to retrieve the web page you’ve requested.
The traffic flows through Network Service Provider networks (NSP), which include networks like SprintNet, IBM, PSINet, etc.  These are the major Internet backbone networks. If you could watch your packets of information flowing through the Internet like a river, you’d see that traffic arrive at your nearest NSP before slipping through sort of virtual “doorways” known as “Network Access Points” (NAP) that allow your packet to leap from one NSP to another.
internet vs www
Eventually, your request makes it to the remote computer – in this case a web server – which will reply to your request by serving up the web page. That traffic flows back across the Internet in the same manner. All of this happens lightning-fast, in the blink of an eye.

How The World Wide Web Is Designed

So, that is an explanation of how the Internet works, but that is only scratching the very surface when it comes to the World Wide Web. The WWW is not really limited to the structure of how hardware or network wires are laid out. The web is quite literally a web of links – online connections to pages, files, music, media, video, downloads and just about anything else that might be stored on a server or a computer somewhere that is “plugged in” to the massive physical network known as the “Internet”.
internet vs world wide web
Picture every web page stored on a server as one “node” that can contain a long list of links to many other nodes on this massive network. Every link can be to absolutely any single piece of information – text, media and more – that is connected to the Internet. It is the interconnection of all of those links that forms what is known as the “World Wide Web”. It is specifically a web of links that forms this virtual online maze of information – a web that continues to grow and multiply at a pace that is far more rapid than the physical growth of the Internet itself.
So, the next time someone uses the terms “Internet” and “World Wide Web” as though they’re the same thing, you don’t really have to correct them. However, you can rest assured in your own knowledge that the Internet applies to the physical infrastructure – the interconnected devices of the net – while the “World Wide Web” applies to the web of software links that connect together the information stored on that massive network.
Together – the two things form the massive network that has transformed our world, and has connected every one of us in ways that never would have been possible without it. The two parts of the network are critical. They aren’t the same, but they both serve an important role in making the whole thing work.
Are you one of those people that always thought these terms were the same thing? Share your thoughts about the Internet and the World Wide Web in the comments section below. Do they still seem like the same thing to you, or do you now see the difference?

what-is-wireless-charging-and-how-exactly-does-it-work/

We live in a wireless world. Except we don’t. Sure, we can send huge amounts of information across the airwaves, but the devices capable of sending and receiving it are tied down to power cords. Batteries allow some freedom but, eventually, we all have to come back around to the familiar face of the power outlet.
 wireless charging
What if we didn’t? What if we could charge anywhere, at any time? This is the promise of wireless charging, a concept that seems ripped from sci-fi. But it’s not – it’s real, and it’s available today. Let’s look at the reality and see what this technology can and can’t accomplish.

How Wireless Charging Works

wireless charging
The term “wireless charging” usually refers to inductive charging. This technology uses a charging station that creates an alternating magnetic field. A device with the proper induction coil will receive energy from that field when it is placed nearby, making it receive power without a physical connection.
Cordless toothbrushes and other bathroom devices have used inductive charging for a long time. The technology has traditionally had problems with low efficiency and slow charging, but these were not considered a disadvantage for bathroom appliances that might be used for only a few minutes every day. Using inductive charging is safer, as well, because the conducting material is not exposed. Touch it with a wet hand? No problem.
Inductive charging is not magic. It needs specific hardware to function, and that hardware must be built into a device. Most devices do not have inductive charging coils built in to them, so a sleeve or adapter must be attached to enable inductive charging.


The Disadvantages Of Inductive Charging

wireless charging pads
Inductive charging relies on magnetic fields. These can be strong but often have a short range of effect unless an incredible source of magnetism is available (the Earth has a magnetic field only because it also has a huge molten metal core). Small inductive charging stations are no different.
Let’s use a wireless toothbrush as an example. You place it on the stand and it charges. The contact between your toothbrush and the stand is not responsible for charging, however. It just seems that way because the field used to charge the toothbrush is so weak that its range is best measured in millimeters.
Charge speed and efficiency remain problems, as well. Attempting to charge a device using induction charging just isn’t as efficient as a direct, physical connection.
And then there’s the inductive coil. Though small and becoming smaller, it’s still a sizable piece of kit relative to the space available in a modern smartphone, tablet or ultrabook. This is a problem that will diminish with time but is relevant to today’s devices.

Wireless Charging Comes To The Mass Market

wireless charging pads
The lack of a common standard is another reason why wireless charging never gained much traction in consumer electronics. It wasn’t so long ago that most devices still relied on Ethernet cords for data and mobile broadband was restricted to ridiculously slow speeds. Wireless charging did not seem important before wireless communications.
That has changed thanks to the Wireless Power Consortium and its Qi (pronounced “chee”) standard. The WPC is an industry organization sponsored by various companies all seeking a standard for wireless charging. Its members include every big name in the mobile market besides Apple.
I talked about Qi Wireless after attending CES 2012. I was able to see a number of working prototypes as well as existing products that used wireless charging. These prototypes and niche solutions are now becoming a reality is mass market products. Nokia, for example, recently announced is new Lumia 920 will have wireless charging built in. The less expensive Lumia 820 will have an optional shell that enables the technology.
It’s clear that there is a future for wireless charging. There’s a lot of industry support behind WPC and a desire to bring the feature to market. We’ll likely see a number of additional devices with wireless charging announced this year and next.

The Future Of Wireless Charging

wireless charging
Current inductive charging can be convenient, but the lack of range is a problem. It diminishes the technology to a convenience rather than a revolution.
Will this change? Maybe. There’s been plenty of research into the potential of long range wireless power and many different technologies have been used to achieve it. Lasers, microwaves and more powerful variants of inductive charging have been able to achieve longer transmission distances. Disadvantages have hampered wide-spread adoption. Tripping over a laser used for wireless power transfer, for example, could result in a vaporized foot.
It’s hard to say where a breakthrough in this field will come from. Apple is one candidate because the company has patented a device that can allegedly power devices at ranges up to one meter. The Wireless Power Consortium is also continually looking into better options. And then there’s Intel, who recently announced that it is working with Integrated Device Technology on a magnetic device that would be placed in a laptop and deliver power to nearby smartphones and peripherals.
Or a breakthrough could come from a small engineering company that’s barely known. This is a tough technical problem that will require both creative thinking and significant engineering know-how to solve. A major corporation may not be the first to find a solution.

Conclusion

Wireless charging has huge potential. This is why people have been working on it for well over a century. If we could move power without wires we’d be able to re-think not just consumer electronics but the infrastructure used by the entire human race.
Alas, we’re not there yet, but the renewed interest in this field brought by consumer electronics is appreciated. Perhaps the eternal quest of endless convenience can finally crack this technology wide open.

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Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean review: Bread and butter


 Introduction

The official rollout of the Galaxy S III Jelly Bean update has finally started. In the next few weeks it should land on just about every Exynos-powered S III unit out there, letting it have a taste of the latest and greatest from Android.

 


The Samsung competitors all reinforced their high-end lineups, so the Galaxy S III needs all the help it can get to fend off the attacks. The timing of this release seems quite great too - none of the Galaxy S III direct rivals has managed to get to Jelly Bean base yet, so the Samsung flagship will have another advantage in this battle for at least a couple of months.
Here's the rundown of the novelties that the Jelly Bean update brings to the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean update key features:

  • Project Butter - smoother UI animations with higher frame rate
  • Google Now
  • Blocking mode
  • Offline voice typing support
  • Better notification area with expandable notifications
  • Two different homescreen modes
  • Pop-up play window is now resizable
  • Smoother and faster web browser
  • New in-call features - boost loudness and turn on/off noise cancellation
  • Video recording pause/resume functionality
  • Enhanced brightness control
  • Easier widgets management
  • Reorganized Settings menu
The biggest question is surely how Flash support is handled with Jelly Bean. Well, if you already have Flash installed on your device, it will stay there. This means that you won't be giving up on anything if you update and that's great news indeed. However, if you didn't purchase your Galaxy S III in time to install the Flash player apk before Adobe pulls it away, you'll still need to side-load it.
Back when Google announced the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean release, it mostly focused on Project Butter and how it finally makes the platform as smooth as its competitors. However, back then many were wondering if device like the Galaxy S III, which were quite fluid on ICS already, will actually feel the improvement.
Later, it turned out that there's far more to the latest Android release - Google Now and offline voice typing are quite nice things to have, while the notification area got even better than before. Yet will those be enough to keep the Galaxy S III competitive? iOS may have basically skipped a turn this year, but Microsoft's WP platform might finally be ready to make an impact.
Let's waste no more time and find out - we'll start with the user interface right after the break.


User interface: Project Butter and TouchWiz

The so called Project Butter, which raises UI animations' framerate to a consistent 60 fps, is one of the key novelties of Jelly Bean. Yet, Samsung Galaxy S III was always really snappy, so it's not too easy to spot the differences.
Still, there are a few parts of the interface that became even more more fluid. The UI animations are great; opening and scrolling the app drawer, switching between home screens, opening and closing system apps, everything has a tad more natural feel to it.
Here is a demo video of the Jelly Bean-powered Samsung Galaxy S III in action.
The animations might have looked a bit more "buttery" here, but the visuals of the TouchWiz-ified Android Jelly Bean aren't too different from those of the TouchWiz-covered ICS. Sure, there are a few refreshed icons here and there, but the overall experience is basically unchanged.
The notification area is probably the most noticeable beneficiary of the Jelly Bean update. It now offers a brightness control scrubber (most Galaxy S III units got this via an OTA update back when they were on ICS, but some regions didn't receive that) just below the connectivity toggles. Furthermore you now get the option to fine tune the brightness of the smartphone fine tune it when auto mode is selected.
Moving on, we notice a a big digital clock with the date at the top of the notification area - a minor improvement, but one we found pretty convenient.
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The new notification area • expandable notifications
But there is even more to show off here: individual notifications are now expandable. If you've got an email, for example, the sender and subject will pop up in your notification area and you can expand the entry with a two-finger swipe to reveal the first few lines the email itself. To collapse them again, simply swipe with the opposite move.
With Jelly Bean Samsung introduces a brand new feature called Home screen mode, which essentially lets you switch between two types of homescreen arrangements - Basic and Easy. Its true purpose is to simplify the interface for first time users, but it can be turned into something far more useful.
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Changing the Home screen mode • the default Basic mode
If you have ever turned on a new Galaxy S III you've already seen Basic mode. This mode is used by default in Samsung droids and gives you the familiar pack of widgets - weather, search, music player and a bunch of shortcuts.
Easy mode, on the other hand, brings a few new widgets with larger buttons, as well as favorite contacts, favorite apps and a keypad on your home screen. This should allow you to use your Galaxy S III with everything on your home screen and minimal interaction with the app drawer, the notification area and other more "complicated" menus.
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The Easy mode • your modifications will be saved
The best part is, you can customize both modes as you please and your Galaxy S III will save the changes. That way you can easily create two different layouts, e.g. work and fun or travel and home and alternate between them quickly. It can easily be used to mimic what HTC offers with their Scene modes within Sense UI.
And while we are on the widgets topic, we have to mention their new behavior - they now support automatic resizing and reshuffling. Let's say you are trying to add a new widget on a home screen, but the ones already in place need to be repositioned to make room. With Jelly Bean, they'll do that automatically for you. Also, if the widget you are trying to add is bigger than the available space but supports resize then it will automatically shrink to fit into the free area.
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Automatic widget repositioning
The Jelly Bean update brings a couple of minor changes to the folders on the Galaxy S III. For one you can now tap and hold on your homescreen to create folders, instead of needing to press the context menu key. We also got redesigned folder icons. Honestly, we prefer the old design since we could see mini icons of the first six apps inside, while now we only see the first one properly.
Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean
The new folders
The last thing the Jelly Bean update brings to the UI is the new Settings menu. It's been reorganized to be easier to find what you're looking for, with the less important stuff being put into a 'More Settings' menu for each category. Three sound toggles have been added within the menu trigger by holding the power/lock key (once again some S III users got an OTA update with these on ICS, but some didn't).
Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean


 
There is one more thing worth mentioning, though - after the Galaxy S III got its Jelly Bean serving the user-available RAM has been increased to 833 MB.

Google Now is your new best friend

As we said Google Now is one of the most notable new features that the Jelly Bean update brings. In the simplest of terms, it is Android's version of Siri for iOS, but much more integrated into the operating system. Google Now is way quicker than its competitor at recognizing and answering your queries and while its functionality still leaves something to be desired, it seems like a step in the right direction.
Besides being able to recognize voice commands, Google Now will learn from your usage patterns, and display relevant information. For example, if you search for a particular sports team frequently, Google Now will display information for upcoming games you might want to watch.
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Google Now in action
The service interacts with you by generating cards which are displayed on your screen and give you a short overview of information it believes is relevant to you. Going to work in the morning? Google Now knows this and lets you know there's a big traffic jam on your usual way to the office, and will offer you an alternate route. This extends to a multitude of other areas, including weather, traffic, public transit stations, and nearby points of interest.
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Google Now
Google Now on the Galaxy S III gets activated with a press-and-hold of the menu button. You can either type or talk to it and the app will give you one of its aforementioned info cards (if available) and read you its contents aloud (you can disable this from the app settings). If there's no card to help with the answer to your question Google Now will simply initiate a Google web search instead.
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Google Now
Samsung's own S-Voice service is also on board, and you can activate it with double tap on the Home key as usual. We couldn't find any new features in S-Voice.

Web browser

The web browser may look pretty much the same, but has learned a few cool new tricks after the update.
Its interface has two new functional additions - the previous and next page buttons on the left of the address bar and the brightness setting in the advanced menu. The latter is not browser-specific but gives you access to the global brightness scrubber.
Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean
The web browser
As our earlier benchmark confirmed, the browser got some under the hood optimizations too. Its JavaScript performance is better on Jelly Bean, while the HTML5 one stays the same.
Adobe is no longer supporting Flash on the Android platform and has even removed the Flash app from the Play Store. However if you had the Adobe Flash Player 11 installed on your Galaxy S III - you will keep the Flash support after the Jelly Bean update as well. Unfortunately, if you reset your device you'll lose Flash, and will have to side-load the Jelly Bean-compatible APK that the guys over at XDA-Developers cooked up.

 

Camera and video recording

Oftentimes firmware updates will bring about some camera improvements. However, since the Galaxy S III camera was an excellent performer, we didn't expect to see any major changes, as Samsung was a great job of squeezing most of the performance out of the device.
And we were right - there are no camera UI changes, nor are there improvements in the quality of the images or videos taken.
Here are a few sample shots to see for yourselves.
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Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean
Galaxy S III Jelly Bean samples vs Galaxy S III ICS samples
There's just a single change in terms of functionality that the Jelly Bean update brings to the Galaxy S III camera. You now get a pause/resume button while video recording, which allows you to create multi-part videos in a single file.

You can compare these two screenshots from the video samples above.
Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean
Galaxy S III Jelly Bean video sample vs Galaxy S III ICS video sample

Blocking mode

Samsung brought a new service of its own, along with the Jelly Bean update. It's called Blocking mode and works in a similar way to the Do Not Disturb feature on iOS 6. It gives you extra control over the phone's alerts.
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Blocking mode settings
If turned on, Blocking mode will mute incoming calls, sound and LED notifications, as well as alarms and times. There are checkboxes where you can choose which notifications to be affected by Blocking mode. You set a time frame, when the Blocking mode is activated every day.
Just like DnD on iOS 6, Blocking mode has an exception list where you can add some contacts that won't be affected by its restrictions.
You can easily activate Blocking mode from the dedicated toggle in the Settings menu. When it is on, an icon appears on the far left side of the status bar.


Apps and services

Offline voice typing premieres with the Jelly Bean update. You can now download language packs (about 20MB per piece) and use voice recognition without an internet connection. This way you are not only saving on your data connection, but the input also operates faster as it's not dependent on network speeds. We were pleased to find out that the transition hasn't cost it anything in terms of accuracy either.
Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean
The offline voice support
Another updated feature is to the pop-up video playback feature. It's the awesome trick introduced on the Galaxy S III that brings the video you are currently playing to a small floating window that lies on top of whatever else you currently have open. The new firmware allows you to resize this pop-up window for even further customization.
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Using the pop-up play
The phone app got two new cool features - extra volume and turn on/off noise cancellation - both of which are available only from the in-call screen. You can now boost the volume of the phone earpiece or the loudspeaker even further than the previous maximum.
You can also select to turn off your noise cancellation if it's affecting your call quality.
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The new call options
The previously leaked Jelly Bean test ROMs revealed a replacement for the S Memo app called S Note lite. In the final release, however, we were surprised to find Samsung dropped the idea of the S Note lite and returned the S Memo app. As far as we can tell, the features seem to be the same despite some slight differences in the UI.
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The S Memo
The new Easy home screen isn't the only thing Samsung did to help first-time Android or smartphone users feel at home on the Jelly Bean-powered Galaxy S III. The smartphone now also offers a nicely designed help app, which teaches you how to operate its basic features and customize it to your liking. We wish it had a search options, but it still provides a good amount of information for new users.
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The Help app
Unfortunately, the apps department also brought us some bad news. The Polaris Office app turned out to be incompatible with Jelly Bean and refused to launch after the upgrade. There is no upgrade for it yet, which means that you are left without a document editor or even viewer preinstalled. If handle a lot of documents on your Galaxy S III, then it might be a good idea to seek out another document viewer in the Play Store, and only apply the update if you are sure it works for you. Alternatively, you can just postpone the update until the Polaris Office app get an update, which expands its compatibility.
Update: The Polaris Office update is already available in some countries and it should be seeded to all Galaxy S III units in the upcoming days. It seems there's nothing left preventing you from applying the update, then.

 
We also competed our battery test on the Jelly Bean-powered Galaxy S III and we are ready to share the results with you. As it turns out Samsung has managed to squeeze even more endurance out of that 2100 mAh battery pack after the update.
The 3G talk time ended up the same as with the ICS-running Galaxy S III and is one of the best performers we have seen. With the screen kept off as per our usual call-testing procedures, the Jelly Bean S III survived for 10 hours and 15 minutes of constant talk on a single charge.

Talk time

    • Samsung Galaxy S III ICS 10:20
    • Samsung Galaxy S III JB 10:15
    The web browsing hasn’t been a battery-friendly task for the AMOLED phones and the Galaxy S III is no exception. Back in the days when it was running ICS, the Galaxy S III depleted a fully charged battery in 5 hours and 17 minutes, but once it got Jelly Bean, it managed to better that achievement by an hour and 10 minutes. 6 hours and 27 minutes is still some way off the best we have seen, but the progress a single software update brought is downright impressive.

    Web browsing

      • Samsung Galaxy S III JB 6:27
      • Samsung Galaxy S III ICS 5:17
      The video playback is the only place where the Jelly Bean S III falls behind the ICS unit – the battery reached 10% charger 9 hours and 27 minutes after we started the test – that’s 34 minutes less than the ICS Galaxy S III managed. We guess the Project Butter is to blame – the Jelly Bean eats more GPU power than the ICS and that might have affected the results. Still it’s an impressive results compared to most of the smartphones out there and the AMOLED is the one to thank for.

      Video playback

        • Samsung Galaxy S III ICS 10:01
        • Samsung Galaxy S III JB 9:27
        The major difference comes with the improved standby time. While we are not usually comparing standby times, they are already part of our formula for the final score. So, even with the other results being close to the ICS ones, the standby overall improvement pushes the endurance rating even more higher.
        If you want to see our full comparison charts, head over to our dedicated blog post.
        Samsung Galaxy S III running on Jelly Beangot an endurance rating of 50 hours (7 hours more than the ICS Galaxy S III), which means you’d need to charge it once every 50 hours if you do an hour of 3G talking, an hour of video playback and an hour of web browsing each day. That's quite an achievement, but keep in mind that your mileage may vary if you have different usage patterns.

        You can find more about the testing procedures here.

        Final words

        There is no question the Jelly Bean update represents a major step forward for the Galaxy S III. Samsung deserves some credit for not only bringing the update in a timely manner, but also making the transition pretty smooth.
        There are no bugs or newly introduced UI glitches to worry about – you just get to enjoy the novelties without distractions. You’ll even keep the Flash support if you had that before the update.
        Moreover, Samsung continues to include cool new software tricks of its own with the ROMs of its devices. The Blocking mode won't be available to the Galaxy S III rivals even after they get their Jelly Bean serving and we are not that sure about Flash support and pausing when recording video either.
        The update doesn't really revolutionize the Galaxy S III user experience, but the cool new tricks the smartphone learned help make an already extremely attractive package even better, so the Samsung flagship still finds itself in a great position. Now it will be able to extend its advantage over its quad-core rivals, which are yet to receive the latest version of Android.
        The Galaxy S III will also have some new weapons in its arsenal to repel the attacks of the newly introduced smartphone heavyweights like the Sony Xperia T and the Motorola RAZR HD. The Jelly Bean update, combined with an appropriate price cut might even help the Galaxy S III win the war against the LG Optimus G quad-core Krait beast, which will be running ICS when it launches. The performance battle is seemingly hopeless there, but the Samsung top dog won't give up on the throne without a fight.
        So, Samsung has once again raised the bar and it's up to the competition to catch up. The Galaxy S III is now the only Android flagship smartphone to have the Jelly Bean goodies and time works in its favor. Here's hoping though that HTC, Sony and LG don't let this last too long and bring their top dogs up to speed as quickly as possible.