After months of speculation and sifting through rumors, Samsung finally unveiled its Galaxy S7 and S7 edge flagships, and they're pretty much what we had been anticipating. But just because there weren't any major surprises doesn't mean that it's not still exciting. Let's have a look.
If you ever need to make calls and/or send texts to the U.S. or Canada from abroad, or even just receive them from those locations, there's an easy way to do so without breaking the bank. In fact, it's free, and all you need is a smartphone, computer, and some free tools.
If your Android device wasn't manufactured by Samsung, chances are it uses on-screen navigation buttons. Colloquially referred to as "Soft keys," these have become commonplace due to their flexibility, as well as the fact that manufacturers don't have to include extra hardware buttons with a propensity to fail.
Researchers at the cyber security firm Zimperium have recently uncovered a vulnerability in roughly 95% of Android devices that has the potential to allow hackers to take total control over your phone with a simple picture message (MMS). The gritty details of this exploit have not been made public yet, but hackers now know the general framework for this type of attack, so you can be certain that they'll hammer out the details in no time.
We recently lost Grooveshark, the free music streaming service that supplied users with a huge catalog of free music anytime, anywhere. Since its shutdown, I have been scrambling to find a half-decent alternative, and my expectations were more than exceeded when I found NetEase Music.
Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! A short while ago, I started a new series called "How to Spy on Anyone." The idea behind this series is that computer hacking is increasingly being used in espionage and cyber warfare, as well as by private detectives and law enforcement to solve cases. I am trying to demonstrate, in this series, ways that hacking is being used in these professions. For those of you who are training for those careers, I dedicate this series.
A landmark bill finally went into action this week that will allow American cellular customers to unlock their smartphones for free. The process of unlocking may vary between mobile service providers, but you can rest assured that you are now entitled, by law, to carrier-unlock your smartphone.
I became a big fan of polenta while studying Italian cooking. Previously, it never occurred to me that ground corn could create a dish that could rival the best pastas or potatoes. Those rich, golden bowls of cornmeal, cooked until tender and flavored with good olive oil, butter, sea salt, and fresh herbs soon became one of my favorite things to eat.
Welcome back, my aspiring hackers! Many of you have installed Kali Linux as a virtual machine (VM) using VMware or VirtualBox, while others have installed Kali (or BackTrack) in a dual-boot system. The drawback to installing these hacking systems as a VM is that it then requires an external wireless adapter (your wireless adapter is piped through the VM as a wired device, eth0), but it makes for a great place to test your hacks while honing your skills.
Your Nexus 5 comes with a pretty cool feature baked in called Android Beam. Using NFC, or Near Field Communication, this functionality allows you to send information to another compatible device by simply touching the two together. Most flagship devices have NFC built into them these days, so there is a broad range of devices that your Nexus 5 is capable of sharing information with wirelessly.
The lengths people will go to for a grilled cheese sandwich are amazing. They'll use irons, wafflemakers, or whatever appliance that produces enough heat to produce the perfect combination of golden, grilled bread and oozy, melting cheese. I personally favor my cast-iron skillet or the oven for making a really great grilled cheese sandwich. If I'm feeling lazy, then a toaster oven will do. But what if you're at work or in a dorm and the break room only has a toaster?
Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! Awhile back, I demonstrated one of my favorite little tools, netcat, which enables us to create a connection between any two machines and transfer files or spawn a command shell for "owning" the system. Despite the beauty and elegance of this little tool, it has one major drawback—the transfers between the computers can be detected by security devices such as firewalls and an intrusion detection system (IDS).
The stock Android app icons that come with your Samsung Galaxy S4 can vary wildly in shape and size, as they will with any out-of-the-box Android device.
Welcome back, my budding hackers! I began this series on Linux basics because several of you have expressed befuddlement at working with BackTrack on Linux. As a hacker, there is no substitute for Linux skills.
Welcome back, my nascent Hackers! In my last blog, we looked at a passive way to gather information necessary for a hack. The advantage of using passive recon is that it's totally undetectable, meaning that the target never knows you're scouting them and you leave no tracks. The disadvantage, of course, is that it's limited to only some websites and not entirely reliable.
One of the best aspects of Android is its customization options. You can change launchers and icons, add widgets, and replace standard apps with others that allow full customization. Android allows your device to really take on your personality, from the inside and out.
The Apple Watch is rapidly becoming a standalone device that you can use without an iPhone or internet connection, and Deezer and Spotify have just helped make that even more true by adding support for offline playback on the watch.
For many, the stock version of Android is often considered the epitome of what the operating system should look and feel like by default. It's clean and clear of unwanted extra apps that come pre-installed with the system, provides a fluid and fast user experience, and runs on just about any device that has an unlocked bootloader to install a custom ROM with the stock version ready to go.
The iTunes App Store makes it easy to buy an app or game on someone else's behalf, and it's a great way to send an iPhone user a thoughtful gift. The Google Play Store doesn't have such functionality, but there are still a few workarounds to accomplish the same goal: gifting an app to an Android user.
If there's one strength of Apple's that iOS and Android fans can agree on, it's the company's dedication to user privacy. With each new iteration of iOS, Apple builds upon these foundations, enhancing and increasing each iPhone's ability to protect its user's data. In iOS 12, Apple has added many new features to Safari, most of which have their own unique way of keeping you safe online.
A majority of iPhone users, including our whole staff here, have an irritating issue with media playback from car stereos: The first song alphabetically in the iPhone's library will play automatically when connecting to the head unit either via USB cable or Bluetooth. CarPlay is even affected sometimes. If you're tired of your first "A" song playing all the time, there are a few things you can do.
The default tool for payload generation is MSFvenom, a Metasploit standalone payload generator as well as encoder. This tool is an incredibly powerful tool for payload generation, but it can be difficult and requires a bit of reading for newer users.
A great many S8 and S8+ users have undoubtedly spent quite a bit of time figuring out ways to unlock their new Galaxy in as few steps as possible. One of the most endearing features of previous Galaxy models was the ability to unlock the phone by pressing the home button and momentarily leaving your finger there for the sensor to do its job, almost instantaneously opening the device — all without having to pick up the phone.
"You can even eat the dishes," claims the song "The Candy Man Can" from 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The idea of edible cups, even back then, grabbed my attention—any kid would much prefer to eat her dish instead of clean it afterward, of course!
Texting has become the king of communication—gone are the days where everyone called each other. These days, it's down-right weird when someone calls first. Whether it be on a phone or on a computer, SMS and MMS messages are the most common way people keep in contact, so why not make sure your app of choice is the best possible one out there?
Both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have had root methods available to them before the phones were even released, but the problem with these existing root methods is that they would trip the KNOX counter on your device.
We've all been there; waking up in the morning with a stiff, achy back. Maybe you overdid the yard work this weekend. Perhaps you were a bit too enthusiastic on the Nautilus circuit. Could be the long hours spent hunched over your computer are catching up with you. Perhaps your back pain is indicative of something more serious. Unfortunately, unless you've really injured your spine, your doctor isn't going to be much help; the best he can do is offer you pain medications and tell you to rest ...
Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! I have written many tutorials on hacking using Metasploit, including leaving no evidence behind and exploring the inner architecture. Also, there are my Metasploit cheat sheets for commands and hacking scripts.
Welcome back, my newbie hackers! Recently, I "upgraded" to Kali as my hacking platform, despite my preference for BackTrack. I did this reluctantly, primarily because new readers here could no longer download BackTrack from their site. I want to point out here that we all must keep in mind that with any software—or for that matter, any product—that is newer is not necessarily better.
"You can never know too much" is a saying you hear all the time. Funny thing is, I have no idea where it originated, and neither do most of the people who continually say it. Nevertheless, it's a statement that very few would argue with.
There's one big drawback when it comes to shooting video in HDR with Dolby Vision on the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max — it's not compatible with many apps and services. That means your video will be downgraded to SDR when sharing. That said, there are options to shoot, view, and edit iPhone-created Dolby Vision HDR videos that are available to use right now.
When Facebook launched its first hardware products last year, the Portal and Portal+ smart displays, the company mostly touted its video-calling features as it faced off against Amazon and its Echo Show.
After getting confirmation from Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, we now know Fortnite Battle Royale will not be available on the Play Store when it's finally released for Android. Instead, users will have to download the APK directly from Epic Games' website — and quite frankly, this is a bad idea.
Google's Pixel phones claimed the top spot in our ranking of the best phones for rooting, but they do have one drawback from a modder's perspective: Because of their A/B partition layout for seamless updates, the devices don't have official support for Magisk. Thankfully, though, developer goodwin has stepped in with a fix, so we can now get Magisk working on the Pixel and Pixel XL.
In the music world, it's safe to say electric instruments are more versatile, but they lack the portability of their acoustic counterparts. However, with the aid of your smartphone plus an audio interface, you can play your electric instrument anywhere — with all the pedal effects you please — and even record your efforts.
The Galaxy S8 has finally touched down, and it's an absolutely gorgeous device. Samsung's brand new flagship comes jam-packed with new features — some refined, and some that aren't. Luckily, we've compiled some major features to help you get started as quickly as possible so you can go about the rest of your day and show off your shiny new S8 to friends and coworkers.
Welcome back, my rookie hackers! As hackers, we are often faced with the hurdle of cryptography and encryption. In some cases, we use it to hide our actions and messages. Many applications and protocols use encryption to maintain confidentiality and integrity of data. To be able to crack passwords and encrypted protocols such as SSL and wireless, you need to at least be familiar with the concepts and terminology of cryptography and encryption.
I get along with most of my friends just like anyone else. We chat on the phone, go out drinking, and play video games—and we choose who to hang out with and when. That same sort of freedom is hard to find on Facebook.
There are quite a few flaws with Apple's mobile products, and one that drives me crazy is their reliance upon iTunes for all your music syncing needs. If you want a song on your iPhone, you pretty much have to use iTunes to get it on there. Either that or buy it directly from the iTunes app on your device.
Phones these days are expensive. The iPhone 11 Pro is presumed to start at $999, following the iPhone XS and iPhone X's leads. One way to bring down that cost is to trade in your old iPhone, but there isn't one clear-cut way to do that. You could trade your iPhone into a participating website or put yourself out there and sell the iPhone on your own. It's all about what's best for you.
