A new security flaw with phones using ARM Mali GPUs was found by Google a few days ago. In essence, Google’s Project Zero team discovered a serious kernel-related flaw in all smartphones, including MediaTek and Exynos, which use the Mali GPU. The manufacturer of GPUs, ARM, was allegedly informed of the problem by the brand, and the security flaw was subsequently patched. However, no other Android OEMs, including Google itself has released any security fix for the issue yet.

About five different flaws were found by the Project Zero team’s research, which they submitted to the ARM. Project Zero’s Ian Beer stated in a blog post that “one of these flaws led to kernel memory corruption, one to physical memory addresses being leaked to userspace, and the remaining three lead to a physical page use-after-free condition.” These would give an attacker the ability to read and write physical pages even after the system had received them back.

Three months after ARM corrected these problems, Project Zero discovered that all of the team’s test devices were still prone to the defects. As of Tuesday, no “downstream security bulletins” from Android makers had acknowledged the problems. Beer pointed out that if a hacker could get around Android’s permissions policy and have “wide access” to a user’s data, it would be easy for them to take control of the entire system. By causing the kernel to use the aforementioned physical pages as page tables, the attacker might do this.

A Google representative informed Engadget that the “fix released by ARM is presently undergoing testing for Android and Pixel devices and will be delivered in the next weeks.” To meet future SPL requirements, “Android OEM partners will be obliged to take the patch.” Anyway, it is worth mentioning that the devices powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset are unaffected from this vulnerability.

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The post Google Reports That Other OEMs Have Not Patched A Known Security Flaw Yet appeared first on Gizmochina.

Samsung has finally revealed the launch date of a new Exynos SoC. If the company’s words are anything to go by, the next processor(Tentative: Exynos 2100) will open a new world of Exynos chipsets going forward.

As you can see below, Samsung Exynos(@SamsungExynos)’s tweet says, “A whole new Exynos is coming”. Accordingly, Samsung will announce the new Exynos chipset on January 12, 2021. Now, if you recall, this is just two days before the Galaxy S21’s supposed launch date. The tweet also accompanies the hashtag #Exynos_is_back suggesting a revamp in performance.

Although Samsung hasn’t officially revealed the name of the SoC yet, several reports say that it is the next flagship SoC and carries the Exynos 2100 moniker. It is expected to be built on the new 5nm process just like Qualcomm’s counterpart. Previously, the Exynos 990 SoC was built on the 7nm process and faced a lot of thermal throttling issues.

#Exynos_is_back
A whole new Exynos is coming.
January 12th, 2021. pic.twitter.com/d85kT9Xvru

— Samsung Exynos (@SamsungExynos) December 18, 2020

Moving on, at the heart of the chipset, it will likely host ARM‘s Cortex-X and Cortex-A cores with a 1+3+4 arrangement, unlike the predecessor which had 2+2+4. It will be an Octa-Core chipset and host the in-house Mali-GPUs. You can take a look at the possible combination below:

• 1xCortex-X1(Clocked at 2.91GHz)- Ultra-High-Performance Core
• 3xCortex-A78(Clocked at 2.8GHz)-High-Performance Cores
• 4xCortex-A55(Clocked at 2.4GHz)- Power Efficiency Cores

EDITOR’S PICK: Samsung announces 5nm Exynos 1080, beats Snapdragon 865 Plus on AnTuTu

At least on paper, this is slightly higher in frequency if we compare it to Snapdragon 888 from Qualcomm. Additionally, reports say that the processor will be accompanied by a Mali-G78 GPU replacing the G77 on the Exynos 990.

Specs aside, reports say that Samsung might finally manage to oust the drawbacks and compete with Qualcomm in 2021. While the early benchmarks give positive vibes, we need to wait for real-world tests. In any case, the new SoC will reportedly consume a lesser battery than the Exynos 990 for similar tasks.

Anyway, the flagship SoC will power the upcoming Galaxy S21 series(S21, S21+, S21 Ultra) in Asia, European regions as usual. In fact, Galaxy S21 series powered by Exynos 2100 SoC is already confirmed in India and spotted on European markets. However, we can expect the company to launch the flagship devices with Snapdragon 888 for the USA, China.

UP NEXT: Samsung Galaxy Book Flex 2 powered by 11th-gen Intel processor goes official

The post Official: Samsung’s new Exynos chipset will debut on January 12; could be Exynos 2100 appeared first on Gizmochina.

1. Introduction

The phone that we are going to review is the Efox Value 6. The following are details of the phone shared by the store.

Brand: Efox

Color: White/black

Operating system: Android 4.2.2

CPU: MT6582 1.3ghz quad-core processor

GPU: Mali 400 Mp

RAM: 1GB

ROM: 4GB

Front camera: 2mP

Rear camera: 5mP

Battery: Plug-in LI-ION battery, 2000mah.

Bands: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz, WCDMA 3G 850/2100 Mhz

GPS: GPS + GLONASS AGPS

OTG: Yes.

Bluetooth: Yes, 4.0

SIM card slot: 1 ordinary, 1 micro-SIM

Display screen size: 5-inch

Resolution: 1280×720 IPS Screen. OGS produced by LG.

Languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Vietnamese, Turkish, Filipino, Bulgarian, Dutch, Romanian, simplified Chinese, etc.

Dimensions: 141.8mm x 71.5mm x 7.5mm

Weight: 132g

Total weight of package: 429g

2.                Pros and Cons

The MT6582 is good considering that it’s a low-end product of Mediatek. The screen’s resolution is excellent considering the price. I also liked the ROM size since it allows users to install application with an SD and has 2.6gb for internal storage.

As for what I didn’t like, the camera is terrible (whether in video or photo mode.  It’s at the same level as the Lenovo A850. The flash is very weak.

3.                Packaging

4.                      Design and Construction

The speaker is located at the top on the front side along with the light sensor, front camera, and other features.

Front

Back

Lower side

Micro USB connector and main microphone

Right side

5.                   Photos taken with the camera

Without HDR

Without HDR

With HDR

With a little light

Without flash

With flash

Front camera

6.            Operating System

        A.   User Interface

It looks similar to MIUI  and I didn’t have a lot of problems with it. One problem though is that it does not ask if you                           want to unlock your SIM until you make your first call. In addition, when it starts, there is a message saying that                                          loading stopped when this application is not installed.

The memory is also very good and is enough for you to install an SD card.

7.                 Applications

8.              Analysis of performance

Quadrant

Antutu

PI Benchmark

Linpack

9.               Connectivity

The WiFi connection is very impressive.

Nearby

One floor below

About 40m away with two walls in between

The GPS was also good. The connection was slow at first but it’s working fine now. It can even be used on the road without internet. 

10.                 Sensors

Accelerometer

Proximity

Light

Others

Battery

With a 2000mah battery and the MT6582, you should not have a problem using this phone for the entire day.

The post An Exclusive Review of the Efox Value 6 appeared first on Gizmochina.