Samsung recently moved the 2018 flagship Galaxy S9 series to a Quarterly update cycle. However, it has given a special spot to the recently launched Galaxy A52, Galaxy A52 5G devices as they are eligible for monthly security updates, unlike the other Galaxy Ax2 devices.

Samsung recently rolled out an update for Galaxy A52 with the firmware version A525FXXU1AUC5 in parts of Europe. This included the latest April 2021 security patch and it came even before April began.

That and looking at the recently Samsung’s updated Security update eligibility page, we found that Galaxy A52, Galaxy A52 5G are on the monthly security update list. Whereas, the other Galaxy Ax2 devices like:

Galaxy A02, Galaxy A02s, Galaxy A12, Galaxy A32, Galaxy A32 5G, Galaxy A42 5G, Galaxy A72 are all on the Quarterly update cycle. You can take a look at the screenshot below(at the time of writing this):

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This makes the Galaxy A52 devices grab a special spot on the monthly security update cycle which only has the Enterprise version of Galaxy A50 as the remaining A-series phone. However, all the recently launched Galaxy Ax2 devices including the higher-priced sibling of Galaxy A52, the Galaxy A72 are on a Quarterly cycle.

You might wonder if it’s an erroneous listing but it looks like Samsung has updated the list very recently especially after updating few devices with April 2021 security patches. We can guess a lot of reasons for this including the incredible success of the predecessor Galaxy A51 but only Samsung can say the real reason behind this.

Anyway, let’s see if Samsung continues to update the Galaxy A52 above other A-series devices in the future. If you are a Galaxy A72 user, how do you feel about this change? Do let us know in the comments below.

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Google started releasing monthly security patches from 2015. Since then, OEMs have been incorporating the patches to their device’s firmware and have been providing it to their users via OTA. However, a report by SRLabs (Security Research Labs) in 2018 revealed the companies to not merge all the changes, which led the search giant to investigate the so-called ‘patch gap’. Now, after two years, the firm has released a new report with compelling positive changes.

SRLabs has been monitoring security patches delivered by OEMs to their devices for the last two years. They made a report with the help of crowdsourced data from its SnoopSnitch application as well as its own collection of firmware builds. The firm identified a total of 10,000 and 7,000 unique firmware builds with different security levels in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

As per their analysis, in 2019, OEMs missed only about half of the patches compared to 2018. Also, the delivery speed was faster by 15%, decreasing the average number of days taken to incorporate a patch from 44 days to 38 days. That means the rate of missed patches fell to 0.3 from 0.7 in the previous year.

Another interesting find was companies tend to patch devices with the most widely deployed Android version. For instance, Samsung and Xiaomi patched their devices with Android 7.1.1 first in most cases. This led to the delaying of updates for the handset running the recent versions of Android.

As far as overall performance is concerned, Google, Sony, and Nokia topped the chart as their devices run near-stock Android and hence it is easy to implement patches. Whereas, Huawei, LG, and Samsung took an average of 2 weeks.  Lastly, all other major OEMs including Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo, OnePlus, Motorola, ASUS, and others patched their devices within a month on average.

UP NEXT: WhatsApp reports a 70% drop in forwarded viral messages after implementing limits

(Source, Via)

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A few months ago, HMD Global launched the Nokia 3.1 Plus smartphone in the Indian market for a price of Rs. 11,499, which roughly converts to $154. Now, the device has received a price cut of Rs. 1,500 in India and will now cost Rs. 9,999 (approximately $140).

The Nokia 3.1 Plus is also receiving a new update and the changelog says that the phone is receiving the latest January 2019 security patch. The update changelog from the company doesn’t mention any feature addition or bug fixes.

The latest Android security patch rollout for the Nokia 3.1 Plus comes after Finland-based HMD Global released the same security patch for the Nokia 6 and Nokia 7.1 smartphones. While the company didn’t mention, users reported that the new update brought back the option to hide the notch on Nokia 7.1.

The update, which is about 70MB in size, is currently being rolled out over-the-air (OTA) but in case you don’t receive OTA notification anytime soon, you can check for the update manually through going to Settings and searching system updates.

The Nokia 3.1 Plus features a 5.99-inch HD+ IPS display that offers a screen resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels and 18:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the device is powered by MediaTek P22 octa-core chipset which is manufactured using the 12nm process. This is the same chipset that powers the Xiaomi Redmi 6 smartphone.

The device comes with 3GB RAM + 32GB internal storage and a dedicated microSD card slot, enabling users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity. In terms of optics, the smartphone features a dual camera setup on the back, offering a 13-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor.

For taking selfies, it comes with an 8-megapixel front-facing snapper. Both cameras come with support for live bokeh or Portrait mode for capturing images with blurred background. As for the software, just like other Nokia smartphones, this one too is a part of Google‘s Android One programme and is promised to receive monthly security updates. It runs the latest Android Pie operating system out-of-the-box.

Read More: Nokia 6.2 with punch-hole display and dual rear cameras to reportedly debut within a month

Connectivity options on the device include Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS/A-GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack, and micro-USB port. The phone is powered by a 3,500mAh battery but lacks fast charging support.

(Via)

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LG launched the LG V20 in September 2016 while the G5 was announced in earlier at the Mobile World Congress in February 2016. That means both flagship models are more than two years old. Thus, LG seems to have finally removed them from the list of models that will get any security update. XDA Forum Moderator Redline recently discovered that the LG V20, as well as the G5, are no longer listed on LG’s Security Bulletin webpage. The archive of the page on the WayBack Machine as at December 13 still had the models listed. However, the latest security bulletin saw both models missing.

This is an indication that the devices will no longer receive updates, security patches or otherwise. For fans of the models still having hope that the phones will get Android Pie, that hope should be killed. The models were launched with android Naugat but were updated to Oreo. With this latest development, the devices will not get past Android Oreo.

Read Also: LG G9 packing an SD 821 SoC, QHD+ screen, 4GB RAM, IP68 waterproof body launched in Korea

LG is one of the major Android OEMs that agreed with Google’s Android Enterprise Recommended program. That means LG must offer at least four security updates within one year of the phone’s launch. The program also recommends Android OEMs to provide flagships smartphones with security updates for at least two years. However, LG will still offer security and OS updates for the G6 and G7 series, V30, V35, V40, CV series, LV series, LG Stylo (SF3), and Q series.

(source)

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