Samsung Pay Moving beyond the credit card

The battle of the mobile payment system has been kicked up a notch as Samsung Pay gets rolled out for the first time. Samsung CEO, JK Shin, has said that users should be able to use their mobiles to pay for goods at nearly every merchant location where you can swipe a credit or debit card. This is because it uses the same technology that most cards do The major development for Samsung Pay is that it also supports store cards and membership cards, so you needn't carry a load of cards around with you as anything that can be swiped should work when loaded onto the phone. This is the first time a payment system will support anything other than the standard credit and debit cards. So Samsung have scored a major coup here in the great battle between it, Android Pay and Apple Pay

S pen Stylus upgraded

The S Pen stylus is Galaxy Note range's unique selling point and it has just got even better. Now in its fifth generation, the S Pen has been made lighter but feels more solid The most t ‘ii exciting move, however, is that you 3 ' can now draw and write on the Note 5 with your S Pen without even having to turn on the screen. This development will let users take quick notes without having to faff around with buttons. lt still saves the notes in exactly the same way as before, but itjust speeds up the entire process, which could prove very useful when jotting down a phone number or address. Arr Command has also been improved as hovering over the screen brings up icons for everything you can do on the phone with your S Pen, no matter what screen you are on at the time The stylus hasjust got a whole lot smarter

samsung Connect to your computer

Samsung has improved the synergy between your phone, tablet and PC with SideSync 3 0. You can now hook your S6 Edge+ or Note 5 up to your PC or tablet and seamlessly operate ~ the two of them , together. SideSync allows you to use your laptops mouse and keyboard on your phone so you can type messages without even touching your handset lt also lets you drag and drop files from the phone to the computer as easily as copying and pasting, which will remove the need to email or Dropbox large files. Samsung has improved the synergy between your phone, tablet and PC with SideSync 3 0. You can now hook your S6 Edge+ or Note 5 up to your PC or tablet and seamlessly operate ~ the two of them , together. SideSync allows you to use your laptops mouse and keyboard on your phone so you can type messages without even touching your handset lt also lets you drag and drop files from the phone to the computer as easily as copying and pasting, which will remove the need to email or Dropbox large files. You'll need to download the app onto whichever devices you plan to use SideSync on and then you'll be able to perform a range of tasks on the bigger screen. To be able to use SideSync, you will need a minimum of Android kitKat 4.4 on your phone, Windows XP on your laptop, SOOMB of hard drive space and at least TGB RAM on your laptop or tablet. SideSync is set to really help professionals who need to switch between their computers and mobile devices regularly and don't want the hassle of manually transferring file

The single largest software update the world has ever seen

Google, Samsung and LG have patched Stagefright and committed monthly security updates — but many more Androids are left exposed

The Zimperium security analyst that discovered Stagefright, Joshua Drake, revealed the flaw to the public in mid-July. But not before giving Google several months to write a security patch. This is normal practice in the computer security industry, so as to protect users and not to tip-off hackers. However, industry members also have a social responsibility to disclose vulnerabilities if they think the threat is great enough and the software vendor isn‘t doing enough to fix it. Fortunately, this wasn't the case. Speaking to NPR on 27 July, Drake said of when he contacted Google in April: “Within 48 hours I had an email [from Google] telling me that they had accepted all of the patches I sent them, which was great." So why did the tech giant have to wait until August to make the patch available? Of course, there was some internal beta testing to ensure the bug was completely fixed, but the larger problem was getting the patch through manufacturers and phone carriers, this was complicated and difficult. However, Google managed to surprise everyone who remembered the slow rollout of Android Lollipop. A patch wasn't just announced for Nexus devices, but Adrian Ludwig, Android's lead engineer for security, confirmed Samsung, Motorola, HTC, LG and Sony would push out patches too. “My guess is that this is the single largest software update the world has ever seen," said Adrian Ludwig, making the announcement at the Black Hat hacking conference. “Hundreds of millions of devices are going to be updated in the next few days. It's incredible." ln addition, Google, Samsung and LG have committed to monthly security updates to ensure vulnerabilities in Android are fixed faster. “Since software is constantly exploited in new ways, developing a fast response process to deliver security patches to our devices is critical to keep them protected," said Donglin Koh, EVP of Samsung Electronics, Mobile R&D Office. “We believe that this new process will vastly improve the security of our devices and will aim to provide the best mobile experience possible for our users." Nexus devices will continue to receive major updates for at least two years and security patches for the longer of three years from initial availability or 18 months from last sale of the device via the Google Store. At the time of writing, Samsung and LG were yet to give additional details about how and when the monthly updates will begin and for how long they will last. While the Nexus patch was made available the same day, updates to Android's most popular phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S6, HTC One M9, and LG G4, were rolled out throughout August at unprecedented speed. However, while lower-end manufacturer Alcatel OneT0uch have said they will patch their brandenew Idol 3 and Motorola have committed to patching even it's budget Moto E handset, the rest of the patches announced at time of writing only applied to flagship devices. There has been no commitment to swift patching for older models, which Zimperium claims are at even greater risk to being exploited via Stagefright.

How to install the patch
While it‘s referred to as a ‘security patch,’ your phone we-n‘t interpret it any differently from an ordinary system update. To install it, go to Settings and select System > About phone. In the new menu screen, tap System updates and then tap Check for update. Alternatively, if you would prefer to sideload the update to your Nexus yourself, rather than wait for the over-theair update, the build name is UlIlY48l.

Customise your app icons Samsung

Expand creativity by choosing from thousands of alternative app icons with the glim lite UI icon pack

Change your launcher 
Download Nova Launcher and Glim from Play. Set Nova as your default launcher by selecting Settings> Home and Nova.

Increase dock icons
Open Nova Settings, then select Dock>Dock Icons. Once that’s done, whack up the number into your dock.

Apply Glim icons
screen, scroll toNova and tap the red Apply text. Read the pop-up window; tap OK.

Customise your icons
On your home screen, long-press each app icon, select Edit and tap the app’s icon in the pop-up that appears.

Browse for icons
Tap Glimand choose a new app icon from Glim’s huge catalogue. Give that icon a tap, then select Done.

Change your wallpaper
Finish things off with a Glim wallpaper. Long-press on your home screen, then selectWallpapers>App &Themes and then

Hide notifications Android displays
information about your notifications on the lock screen. If you don’t want this, open Settings, selectSound& Notification, then tap ‘Whenyour device is locked,’ followed by ‘Don’t show notifications at all’.

Don’t add to home 09 screen
Whenyou install an app, Play adds a shortcut to the home screen by default. To prevent Play from creating these shortcuts, open the Play app and tap the menu icon. Select Settings and then deselect ‘Add icon to Home screen.’

Try Android M
If you own a Nexus 5, 6 or 9and you’re feeling adventurous, you can flash an early release of AndroidM to your device (http:// goo.gl/Yok2Xv) . However, this is only a developer preview release somake sure you read Google’s disclaimer carefully!

Hexy Launcher
Free Hexy displays your apps as hexagonal tiles, arranged in a grid on your home screen. Hexy organises your apps automatically, with the most frequently used ones appearing in the centre, but if you can’t spot the one you’re after you can filter the apps in your grid using Hexy’s useful search bar.

Launcher 10
Beta Free This unique launcher adds integrated live weather effects, sowhen the forecast says snow, expect to see snow falling on your home screen and settling on your app icons. This launcher also adds a sidebar containing recent and favourite apps, plus other useful shortcuts such as toggling Wi-Fi functionality on and off.
Action Launcher 3
Free + IAPs This launcher gives you an additional way of accessing apps. Swipe from the left of your home screen to see a complete A-Z of all apps installed on your device. If you upgrade to the Plus version, Action Launcher also automatically extracts colours from your wallpaper and then uses them as a basis to customise your layout.

Yahoo Aviate Launcher Free
Aviate is a contextually-aware, ‘personal assistant’ launcher that gathers your favourite apps together and arranges them based on different activities, such as Social, Productivity and Photography. If you tell Aviate your home and work location, it will also offer you different apps that are based on your current location.

Buzz Launcher
Free If you’re a fan of theming your device, then you may want to take a look at Buzz Launcher, which gives you easy access to a user-created library of thousands of themes. To see what’s available before you install the app, view details at homepackbuzz.com.

Samsung looks to take on Apple’s next iPad with its super-bright new tablet

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Tab S2 as its latest high-end tablet, boasting the thinnest and lightest specs of any tablet on the market. Available in 8-inch or 9.7-inch versions, both will run an incredible 2,048 x 1,536 Super AMOLED screen that enables 94 per cent of natural colour tones to be seen. We are expecting big things in terms of visuals from the Tab S2, especially when it comes to viewing photos. The Adaptive Display automatically adjusts the screen according to application or ambient light, reducing the risk of eye strain when used over long periods. Both models are just 5.6mm thick, while the 9.7-inch option will weigh a mere 389g. Using what Samsung describes as the world’s “thinnest and lightest metal frame of its size”, the Tab S2 is thinner and lighter than the iPad Air 2. The 9.7-inch model is powered by a 5,870mAh battery,

the 8-inch uses a 4,000mAh battery and both run an octa-core Exynos 7 processor that combines a quad-core A57 1.9GHz processor and a quad-core A53 1.3GHz processor, so it should have some serious power. Samsung hasn’t upgraded camera from the Tab S, as both models have an 8 rear camera and 2.1MP on the front, although both are missing the fl ash. The storage has been upgrad though, so you can now get 32GB or 64GB storage, which can be extended up to 128GB with a microSD Samsung is clearly hoping the Tab S2 will get th march on Apple, ahead of the anticipated iPad Air 3 and mini 4 launch in October, and with these specs there seems a good chance of that. The price is at the top end of the market, with the LTE version of the 8-inch model coming in at €469 / $508 and 9.7-inch at €569 / $616. To fi nd out more, visit samsung.com.