Google Confirms Unstoppable Pixel Update—Tick-Tock For Samsung
Pixels first again — the clock is ticking for others.
Pixel comes first. That has just been made clear once again, with Google confirming the release of Android 16 'rolling out first to supported Pixel devices with more phone brands to come later this year.' The clock is now ticking for Samsung.
This is the latest foray in Google's mission to narrow the security gap with iPhone, and critically Android 16 brings Advanced Protection Mode, which makes an Android phone more like an iPhone, restricting sideloading along with other safeguards.
With this Android 16 release to all supported Pixels, Google says, you can now activate its 'strongest mobile device protection.' This enables 'security features that protect you from online attacks, harmful apps, unsafe websites, scam calls and more. Whether you're a public figure or you just prioritize security, Advanced Protection gives you greater peace of mind that you're protected against the most sophisticated attacks.'
Google says 'this is the earliest Android has launched a major release in the last few years, which ensures you get the latest updates as soon as possible on your devices.' Good news for Pixel owners. Less good news for Samsung owners rocking a new Galaxy flagship. There is a relatively short window before those users will expect an upgrade.
According to SammyFans, while there's 'confirmation it will arrive earlier than usual, marking a significant change in how Samsung releases software updates,' there's no firm date. 'The company is targeting an ambitious summer 2025 stable release timeline, potentially arriving as early as July, months ahead of its traditional fall update.'
Advanced Protection Mode is less a change for Samsung users than Pixel users, given Samsung has already taken steps to restrict risky activity on its devices. But I recommend users enable the setting anyway. It's a single click to be much safer, and it stops inadvertent activity that might see your data (or worse) compromised.
Per Engadget, with this Android 16 release Google has also 'tied all of its security features together, so users can now be protected from 'online attacks, harmful apps, unsafe websites, scam calls and more in just a tap'. This includes new scam detection features that were previewed back in May.' All critical given the raft of ongoing attacks.
After the nightmare One UI 7 delays — both for beta and stable releases, the expedited One UI 8 (Android 16) beta has landed more favorably, but the stable rollout schedule is all that really matters. Users of Galaxy S22 series and above, covering the last three years, will be especially keen to see upgrades beyond the S25 and S24, and this year's new foldables, which should run One UI 8 out of the box from next month.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Tom's Guide
22 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
iPhone 17 vs iPhone 17 Pro: How big will the gap be this year for new iPhones?
Apple has spent the past few years giving its iPhone Pro models that extra little push with features not available on the standard iPhone. But that wasn't the case with the iPhone 16, which added enough new capabilities to dash nearly any FOMO you may have felt by not paying up for the iPhone 16 Pro. Will that trend continue this year with an iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 17 Pro comparison? Initial rumors about Apple's iPhone 17 plans paint a mixed picture. While the standard iPhone is set to gain a long-awaited display improvement that will match what the Pro models have delivered for years, the iPhone 17 Pro is set to see the more significant changes, chiefly to its design and cameras. And Apple could be planning a processor surprise, too, that may affect how you weigh the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro. We're a few months away from the iPhone 17 release, since Apple typically rolls out new phones in September. But enough rumors about all the new models in the works have emerged to give us a good sense of how the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro might compare. Here's how a potential iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 17 Pro face-off is shaping up, with a special focus on the biggest differences as well as key similarities. Save for the number of camera lenses on the back of each model and the screen size, every iPhone in Apple's lineup tends to look the same. That may be changing with the iPhone 17. Based on leaked renders and CAD drawings, the iPhone 17 will look a lot like past models, though it may have a more prominent camera array than the current iPhone 16. The two rear cameras will still be stacked vertically, though. Apple seems to be taking a different approach with the iPhone 17 Pro, stretching the camera array horizontally across the back of the phone. The three rear cameras will continue to be arranged in a triangular array on the right side of the phone, but other sensors and the flash will be moved to the left. Currently, Pro models come with a titanium frame, and there's some talk of Apple dropping that feature with the iPhone 17 Pro. I'm not sure I totally believe that at this point, given how prominently titanium figures into the branding of Apple's Pro phones. The standard iPhone features a main camera and an ultrawide lens on the back, while the Pro handsets add a telephoto lens to that setup. That isn't changing with the iPhone 17 lineup, though it sounds like the iPhone 17 Pro is in line to get a much bigger improvement to its camera setup. Along with the 48MP Fusion Camera that serves as the main shooter and a 48MP ultrawide camera, rumors tip the iPhone 17 Pro to adopt a 48MP telephoto lens. That's a higher resolution than the 12MP zoom lens on the iPhone 16 Pro, though the trade-off for that higher resolution may be a shorter zoom. The iPhone 17 Pro telephoto camera will reportedly only offer a 3.5x optical zoom compared to 5x on the current model, which doesn't make sense. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 will still have to rely on its 48MP main camera to approximate a 2x optical zoom, as there's no zoom lens slated for that phone. In fact, it's widely assumed the rear camera setup on the iPhone 17 will be the same as what the iPhone 16 offers. The iPhone 17 Pro is also expected to pick up a new feature not available on the standard iPhone 17. A rumor claims Pro phones will support dual-video capture, allowing you to record video from both the front and back cameras simultaneously. One other camera change could impact both the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro. All new iPhones are in line to get a 24MP selfie camera, replacing the current 12MP shooter. You'd expect Apple to maintain a minor difference between the standard iPhone and the Pro model this fall by giving those phones slightly different chipsets. If Apple sticks to its pattern from the past couple iPhone releases, the iPhone 17 would get an A19 system-on-chip while the iPhone 17 Pro would benefit from an A19 Pro that offers a little more processing power particularly when it comes to graphics. The differences could be even more stark with the iPhone 17, though. One analyst believes the standard iPhone 17 will continue to use an A18 processor, repeating what Apple did with the iPhone 14. If that's the case, the performance difference between an A18-powered iPhone 17 and an iPhone 17 Pro with an A19 Pro chip could be rather stark. Like the iPhone 16, the iPhone 17 is expected to feature 8GB of RAM to help with all that on-device computing that Apple Intelligence features require. But the iPhone 17 Pro could get a boost in that area. Specifically, multiple analysts are forecasting that the Pro models will get a bump to 12GB of memory, as Apple looks to give the iPhone 17 Pro a performance edge. iPhone 17 pricing is up in the air, given the ever-fluctuating policies about tariffs coming out of Washington. Even before tariffs threatened to raise the cost on devices manufactured in China like iPhones. However, there has been talk of some iPhome 17 models costing more than their predecessors. Regardless of how iPhone pricing shakes out in the fall, it's a safe bet that the iPhone 17 will cost less than the iPhone 17 Pro. Currently, the iPhone 16 starts at $799 while the iPhone 16 Pro has a $999 asking price. That gap in pricing is a pretty good guide, though there is a chance it might widen if the Pro model sees a price hike and the standard phone doesn't. After years of keeping its standard iPhones with refresh rates locked at 60Hz, Apple sounds like it's finally going to deliver a feature that's pretty standard on flagship phones these days — a fast-refreshing display. Multiple reports have the iPhone 17 adopting an LTPO panel for its display, a switch that would enable the phone to offer refresh speeds of up to i20Hz. That means smoother scrolling and more immersive graphics, and it would match a feature the iPhone Pro models have offered since the iPhone 13 Pro. The iPhone 17's fast-refreshing display may not be completely on par with what the iPhone 17 Pro offers, as some reports suggest the refresh rate on the standard model may not be able to scale all the way down to 1Hz. Still, this is one area where the gap between the regular iPhone and the Pro model may close considerably. The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro displays may have something else in common. Some are expecting Apple to increase the panel on the iPhone 17 to 6.3 inches, matching a boost in screen size introduced with the iPhone 16 Pro last year. However, one new difference in displays could emerge. The iPhone 17 Pro may shrink the size of the Dynamic Island feature, freeing up more screen real estate. It's unclear if that change is coming to the regular iPhone 17. Then again, a more recent report claims all models will shrink the Dynamic Island. The iPhone 17 Pro models are thought to be adopting a vapor cooling chamber as a replacement for the standard heatsinks found in current iPhones. The ideal is that the new chamber would keep the iPhone running smoothly while preventing overheating during processor-intensive tasks — a problem that's flared up with some recent releases. Opinion is divided among rumor mongers as to whether this feature is exclusive to the Pro phones or whether all iPhone 17 models will benefit from the switch. We'll list this feature here for now, though it could shift over to the differences column as we get more information ahead of the iPhone 17 launch. All iPhone 17 models debuting in the fall will ship with the same software on board. And now that Apple has held its WWDC 2025 conference, we have a pretty good idea as to what that software will deliver. iOS 26 largely focuses on introducing a new Liquid Glass interface to Apple's phones, unifying the look of Apple's software across its phones, Macs and other devices. But there are Apple Intelligence updates included with iOS 26, too, such as a more capable Visual Intelligence feature and new additions to Genmoji and Image Playground. While Apple could always surprise us at the iPhone 17 launch with some Pro-specific software capabilities, the same iOS 26 features should work equally well on the iPhone 17 as they do on the Pro. Make no mistake — the iPhone 17 Pro is going to continue to offer more premium features than the iPhone 17, even if the fast-refreshing display coming to Apple's entry-level flagship ticks off a big box that had been separating the two phones. The Pro still figures to have the better camera setup, with more video capture features at your disposal. And if the rumored differences in chipsets pan out, there could be a notable performance gap between the two models as well.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Billions of login credentials have been leaked online, Cybernews researchers say
NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers at cybersecurity outlet Cybernews say that billions of login credentials have been leaked and compiled into datasets online, giving criminals 'unprecedented access' to accounts consumers use each day. According to a report published this week, Cybernews researchers have recently discovered 30 exposed datasets that each contain a vast amount of login information — amounting to a total of 16 billion compromised credentials. That includes user passwords for a range of popular platforms including Google, Facebook and Apple. Sixteen billion is roughly double the amount of people on Earth today, signaling that impacted consumers may have had credentials for more than one account leaked. Cybernews notes that there are most certainly duplicates in the data and so 'it's impossible to tell how many people or accounts were actually exposed.' It's also important to note that the leaked login information doesn't span from a single source, such as one breach targeting a company. Instead, it appears that the data was stolen through multiple events over time, and then compiled and briefly exposed publicly, which is when Cybernews reports that its researchers discovered it. Various infostealers are most likely the culprit, Cybernews noted. Infostealers are a form of malicious software that breaches a victim's device or systems to take sensitive information. Many questions remain about these leaked credentials, including whose hands the login credentials are in now. But, as data breaches become more and more common in today's world, experts continue to stress the importance of maintaining key 'cyber hygiene.' If you're worried about your account data potentially being exposed in a recent breach, the first thing you can do is change your password — and avoid using the same or similar login credentials on multiple sites. If you find it too hard to memorize all your different passwords, consider a password manager or passkey. And also add multifactor authentication, which can serve as a second layer of verification through your phone, email or USB authenticator key.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Researchers Scanned the Brains of ChatGPT Users and Found Something Deeply Alarming
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found some startling results in the brain scans of ChatGPT users, adding to the growing body of evidence suggesting that AI is having a serious — and barely-understood — impact on its users' cognition even as it explodes in popularity worldwide. In a new paper currently awaiting peer review, researchers from the school's storied Media Lab documented the vast differences between the brain activity of people who using ChatGPT to write versus those who did not. The research team recruited 54 adults between the ages of 18 and 39 and divided them into three groups: one that used ChatGPT to help them write essays, one that used Google search as their main writing aid, and one that didn't use AI tech. The study took place over four months, with each group tasked with writing one essay per month for the first three, while a smaller subset of the cohort either switched from not using ChatGPT to using it — or vice versa — in the fourth month. As they completed the essay tasks, the participants were hooked up to electroencephalogram (EEG) machines that recorded their brain activity. Here's where things get wild: the ChatGPT group not only "consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels," but also got lazier with each essay they wrote; the EEGs found "weaker neural connectivity and under-engagement of alpha and beta networks." The Google-assisted group, meanwhile, had "moderate" neural engagement, while the "brain-only" group exhibited the strongest cognitive metrics throughout. These findings about brain activity, while novel, aren't entirely surprising after prior studies and anecdotes about the many ways that AI chatbot use seems to be affecting people's brains and minds. Previous MIT research, for instance, found that ChatGPT "power users" were becoming dependent on the chatbot and experiencing "indicators of addiction" and "withdrawal symptoms" when they were cut off. And earlier this year Carnegie Mellon and Microsoft — which has invested billions to bankroll OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT — found in a joint study that heavy chatbot use appears to almost atrophy critical thinking skills. A few months later, The Guardian found in an analysis of studies like that one that researchers are growing increasingly concerned that tech like ChatGPT is making us stupider, and a Wall Street Journal reporter even owned up to his cognitive skill loss from over-using chatbots. Beyond the neurological impacts, there are also lots of reasons to be concerned about how ChatGPT and other chatbots like it affects our mental health. As Futurism found in a recent investigation, many users are becoming obsessed with ChatGPT and developing paranoid delusions into which the chatbot is pushing them deeper. Some have even stopped taking their psychiatric medication because the chatbot told them to. "We know people use ChatGPT in a wide range of contexts, including deeply personal moments, and we take that responsibility seriously," OpenAI told us in response to that reporting. "We've built in safeguards to reduce the chance it reinforces harmful ideas, and continue working to better recognize and respond to sensitive situations." Add it all up, and the evidence is growing that AI is having profound and alarming effects on many users — but so far, we're seeing no evidence that corporations are slowing down in their attempts to injecting the tech into every part of of society. More on ChatGPT brain: Nation Cringes as Man Goes on TV to Declare That He's in Love With ChatGPT
