We all think we’re pretty good at identifying images made by AI. It’s the weird alien text in the background. It’s the bizarre inaccuracies that seem to break the laws of physics. Most of all, it’s those gruesome hands and fingers. However, the technology is constantly evolving and it won’t be too long until we won’t be able to tell what’s real or not. Industry leader OpenAI is trying to get ahead of the problem by created by its own DALL-E 3 generator. The results are a mixed bag.
OpenAI
The company says it can accurately detect pictures whipped up by DALL-3 98 percent of the time, which is great. There are, though, some fairly big caveats. First of all, the image has to be created by DALL-E and, well, it’s not the only image generator on the block. The internet overfloweth with them. According to , the system only managed to successfully classify five to ten percent of images made by other AI models.
Also, it runs into trouble if the image has been modified in any way. This didn’t seem to be a huge deal in the case of minor modifications, like cropping, compression and changes in saturation. In these cases, the success rate was lower but still within acceptable range at around 95 to 97 percent. Adjusting the hue, however, dropped the success rate down to 82 percent.
OpenAI
Now here’s where things get really sticky. The toolset struggled when used to classify images that underwent more extensive changes. OpenAI didn’t even publish the success rate in these cases, stating simply that “other modifications, however, can reduce performance.”
This is a bummer because, well, it’s an election year and the vast majority of AI-generated images are going to be modified after the fact so as to better enrage people. In other words, the tool will likely recognize an image of Joe Biden asleep in the Oval Office surrounded by baggies of white powder, but not after the creator slaps on a bunch of angry text and Photoshops in a crying bald eagle or whatever.
At least OpenAI is being transparent regarding the limitations of its detection technology. It’s also giving external testers access to the aforementioned tools to help fix these issues, . The company, along with bestie Microsoft, has poured $2 million into something called the , which hopes to expand AI education and literacy.
Unfortunately, the idea of AI mucking up an election is not some faraway concept. It’s happening right now. There have already been and used this cycle, and there’s likely as we slowly, slowly, slowly (slowly) crawl toward November.
This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
AOC has announced the Graphic Pro U3 Series of monitors, which it says are crafted with creative professionals in mind, particularly photographers, visual artists, designers, editors, broadcasters, and producers.
The Graphic Pro U3 line is made up of Q27U3CV, with a 27-inch QHD (2560×1440) display, U27U3CV, with a 27-inch 4K UHD (3840×2160) display, and the larger U32U3CV, with a 31.5-inch 4K UHD screen.
The standout feature of the Graphic Pro U3 Series is its compatibility with Calman, the Hollywood-grade color calibration software. The screens communicate directly with the software, allowing for precise and swift monitor calibration for color accuracy. It utilizes RGB-triplet control and 1D/3D-LUT profiling, unlike custom ICC profiles, offering a more robust display calibration at the hardware level, something not typically seen in monitors at this price point.
Plenty of ports
In addition to this, the AOC Graphic Pro U3 series comes with a welcome selection of ports. Q27U3CV has 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x DisplayPort 1.4 input, 1x DisplayPort 1.4 output, 1x RJ-45, 2x USB-C (1 up, 1 downstream) and 4x USB-A ports.
Both the U27U3CV and the top-of-the-range U32U3CV sport 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x RJ-45, 3x USB-C and 4x USB-A ports, as well as a KVM switch, so you can use a single keyboard and mouse to control multiple computers. Simply connect the devices to the monitor’s USB hub, and you can switch between PCs connected to the monitor’s USB-C ports. All three screens have 2x 3W speakers.
“At AOC, we understand that creative professionals demand the very best tools to bring their visions to life,” said Artem Khomenko, Head of Product Management at AOC.
“We are beginning a new chapter in AOC’s legacy. Our new Graphic Pro U3 Series is the result of our expertise in display technologies and our commitment to delivering high-quality, high-performance monitors that empower creators to push the boundaries of their craft. With exceptional color accuracy, hardware calibration with Calman Ready, versatile USB-C connectivity, and a sleek design, the new Graphic Pro monitors will deliver the perfect tools for content creators and designers.”
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
AOC’s Graphic Pro U3 monitors, priced from £289.99 for the Q27U3CV, £399.99 for the U27U3CV, and £499.99 for the U32U3CV, will be available in July 2024.
It’s a pretty good bet that the Google Pixel 8a is going to break cover at Google I/O 2024 on May 14, and as the day approaches, we’ve seen a pile of new leaks turn up that give us a better idea of what we can expect from this mid-ranger.
First up is well-known tipster Evan Blass, who has posted an extensive set of pictures of the Pixel 8a. You can see the phone from the front and the back, and at an angle, and in its four rumored colors: Obsidian (black), Porcelain (white-ish), Bay (blue), and Mint (green).
These designs have previously been leaked, so there’s not a whole lot that’s new here, but it’s more evidence that this is indeed what the Pixel 8a is going to look like. The images are sharp and clear too, giving us a good look at the design.
It appears this phone will look a lot like the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 7a, with the recognizable camera bar around the back. It does seem as though this year’s mid-range Pixel is going to sport a more curved frame than its immediate predecessors, however.
To no one’s surprise, the Pixel 8a will feature AI (Image credit: @OnLeaks / MySmartPrice)
Onward to the next leak, and MySmartPrice has managed to get hold of a promotional video for the Pixel 8a. It was briefly available to view on YouTube before being pulled – and as YouTube is owned by Google, we’re assuming someone higher up had a word.
If you want to see some stills taken from the video before it disappeared, you can find some over at Phandroid. There’s actually not too much that’s new in this video, besides seeing the Pixel 8a itself – a lot of the AI features the clip shows off, like instant photo edits and live text translations, are already available in newer Pixel phones.
Our final leak for now is over at Android Headlines, where there are some promotional images showing off some of the capabilities of the Pixel 8a: capabilities including tools like Circle to Search. The images suggest all-day battery life, the Tensor G3 chipset, IP67 protection, and seven years of security updates.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
The same source says the on-sale date for the Google Pixel 8a is going to be May 16, and there are some pictures of the official silicone cases that’ll come along with it. Expect to hear all the details about this upcoming phone on May 14.
It’s a big day for Quest users. Meta has announced it’s giving third-party companies open access to its headsets’ operating system to expand the technology. The tech giant wants developers to take the OS, expand into other frontiers, and accomplish two main goals: give consumers more choice in the virtual reality gaming market and give developers a chance to reach a wider audience.
Among this first batch of partners, some are already working on a Quest device. First off, ASUS’ ROG (Republic of Gamers) is said to be developing “an all-new performance gaming headset.” Lenovo’s on the list too and they’re seemingly working on three individual models: one for productivity, one for education, and one for entertainment.
This past December, Xbox Cloud Gaming landed on Quest headsets as a beta bringing a wave of new games to the hardware. Microsoft is teaming up with Meta again “to create a limited-edition Meta Quest [headset], inspired by Xbox.”
New philosophy
Meta is also making several name changes befitting their tech’s transformation.
The operating system will now be known as Horizon OS. The company’s Meta Quest Store will be renamed the Horizon Store, and the mobile app will eventually be rebranded as the Horizon app. To aid with the transition, third-party devs are set to receive a spatial app framework to bring their software over to Horizon OS or help them create a new product.
With Horizon at the core of this ecosystem, Meta aims to introduce social features that dev teams “can integrate… into their [software]”. They aim to bridge multiple platforms together creating a network existing “across mixed reality, mobile, and desktop devices.” Users will be able to move their avatars, friend groups, and more onto other “virtual spaces”.
This design philosophy was echoed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In a recent Instagram video, Zuckerberg stated he wants Horizon OS to be an open playground where developers can come in and freely create software rather than a walled garden similar to iOS.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
Breaking down barriers
It’ll be a while until we see any of these headsets launch. Zuckerberg said in his post that “it’s probably going to take a couple of years for these” products to launch. At the moment, Meta is “removing the barriers” between its App Lab and digital storefront allowing devs to publish software on the platform as long as they meet “basic technical and content” guidelines. It’s unknown if there’ll be any more limitations apart from requiring third-party companies to use Snapdragon processors.
No word if other tech brands will join in. Zuckerberg says he hopes to see the Horizon Store offer lots of software options from Steam, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and even apps from the Google Play Store – “if they’re up for it.” It seems Google isn’t on board with Horizon OS yet.
Rumors have been circulating these past several months claiming Google and Samsung are working together on an XR/VR headset. Perhaps the two are ignoring Meta’s calls to focus on their “so-called Apple Vision Pro rival”.
Many Galaxy smartphone users have started complaining of display issues after installing a software update. This issue has been present on Samsung phones for a couple of years, and the company hasn’t done anything concrete to solve it. The issue appears so common that Galaxy users fear installing a new update on their phones.
Galaxy users complain of display problems after installing a software update
Several Galaxy users have started complaining of display-related issues on their phones with OLED screens. After installing a software update, a green or pink line appeared on their phones. This issue isn’t limited to a few phones or models. It seems widespread, and we’ve seen this issue appear on the Galaxy A73, Galaxy M21, Galaxy M52 5G, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy S21 FE, Galaxy S22 series, and Galaxy Z Flip 3. Some users claim the issue appeared after installing One UI 6.0 or the April 2024 security update.
The issue appeared after installing a software update in most of these instances. This has horrified users so much that people have started recording videos while installing new software updates on their phones. Users hope to submit their videos to after-sales service stores to prove that the issue (if it appears) wasn’t caused by physical damage.
Green line issue causing consumer distrust in Samsung
This isn’t a minor issue, as an OLED display panel is among a smartphone’s most costly components. Sometimes, the OLED panel costs almost half the phone’s original price. Even after so many complaints, Samsung doesn’t seem to have issued a wider circular to after-sales service centers to replace display panels on affected phones for free. This has caused consumers to distrust Samsung.
Whether the issue is related to the OLED panel itself, the display cable, or a glitch in the software update system, Samsung needs to issue a statement about this problem as soon as possible if it wants consumers to trust the brand again.
What I hate most about smartphones is Settings. It’s hard to organize a Settings menu, and today’s phones prove that. Even the best phones have terrible Settings, and because it’s such a challenge, I like to make Settings the focus of my argument to explain how Samsung’s OneUI software has gotten so terrible, and why Apple’s iOS is better. Buckle up, because I’m opening Settings, and it’s about to get ugly because Settings are bad everywhere, but especially on a Samsung phone.
What’s the best I can expect from a Settings menu? Nothing. Really. I hope to never use Settings. On an ideal smartphone, Settings wouldn’t exist. The AI revolution in smartphones is leading to this point. Eventually, AI is going to manage Settings. You’ll tell the AI what you need, and it will make the adjustments.
(Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
To that end, Samsung could end up with the BEST Settings on any smartphone. Bixby, Samsung’s much-maligned digital assistant, is built to manage Settings. Most of what you want to do with your Galaxy phone, and what I’ll complain about below, can be simplified using Bixby.
Hold down the Bixby button and ask your phone to “turn on the Wi-Fi hotspot” or “change the screen mode to Vivid” and Bixby will do it. Bixby knows Settings better than any human. That’s part of the problem. The Galaxy’s Settings are so complicated they need to put an AI in charge.
What I want from Settings is as little as possible
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Back to what I want: the least effort possible. I don’t want to use Settings, so the more time I spend with Settings open, the bigger the fail.
The most common Settings on a phone should be available with one swipe. On my iPhone 15, I swipe down from the upper-right corner of the screen, and I get instant access to not just brightness and Wi-Fi, but also I can quickly tap Do Not Disturb, activate Power Saving, open my AppleTV remote, or even create a new reminder.
On my Samsung Galaxy S24, I swipe down from the top of the screen, and I get six Quick Settings buttons, as well as a litany of notifications. To find all of Quick Settings, I need to swipe again. That’s the difference between Apple and Samsung. Too many tasks require an extra step on my Samsung phone.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
Even the faster way is slower
Samsung fans are screaming at me, because you really only need to swipe once to see all the Quick Settings buttons, but that’s a Setting you need to enable. Where do you enable this option? After you swipe down twice, you’ll notice a tiny little ‘customization’ pencil icon. If you tap that icon, you can activate a few useful features, like seeing all the Quick Settings after just one swipe.
You can also set up a hot corner to show all of the Quick Settings buttons at once, just like Apple uses. Of course, good luck finding this option, even though it should be turned on by default. Good luck finding any of these options, in fact.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
See, these Settings are not actually in the Settings app. Want to see the Quick Settings buttons with a single swipe? That option is not anywhere in Settings. It’s only found under that tiny pencil menu, the one you find by swiping down twice. Suddenly my Galaxy S24 Ultra feels more like a quest through Legend of Zelda than a modern smartphone.
Putting the Settings to the real test
As for the Settings app, Apple and Samsung have very different philosophies. On your iPhone, ALL of your Settings are in the Settings app. All of them. All the settings for every app you use, as well as all of your basic phone settings, are in the same place. The Settings list is therefore very long, since it includes every app on your phone.
On my Galaxy S24, like all Android phones, there are Settings in each separate app. That would be fine if Settings were well organized. My Gmail settings are in Gmail and my Facebook settings are in Facebook, but all of the other settings on my phone should just be in Settings. Sadly, this isn’t how Samsung phones are organized, and it doesn’t seem like there is any consistent organization at all.
Sometimes settings are in the Settings app. Sometimes they are hidden under strange little icons, like the ‘pencil’ example above. If you see an enigmatic set of dots anywhere on your Galaxy phone, a cairn of pixels stacked atop each other, that is probably a hidden settings menu.
All the AI features, buried in the Settings (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Worst of all, Samsung’s Settings app is a big mess. While Apple’s Settings is a very long list, once you start digging, there isn’t very far to go. Whatever feature you want to find, you’ll get there in one or two steps.
To test this, I chose 10 common reasons why I use the Settings menu. Without using any advanced shortcuts, like a long-press on a Quick Settings button, and without simply searching for the Settings I wanted, I mapped how many steps it took to accomplish my Settings goals on the iPhone 15 and the Galaxy S24. The results were clear.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Function
iPhone/iOS 17
Galaxy/OneUI 6.1
# of steps: iPhone / Galaxy
Winner
Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot
Settings: Personal Hotspot: Allow Others to Join
Settings: Connections: Mobile Hotspot and Tethering: Mobile Hotspot toggle (or tap text for even MORE settings)
3 / 4
iPhone
Change wallpaper
Settings: Wallpaper
Settings: Wallpaper and style
2 / 2
Tie
Turn on power saving
Settings: Battery: Low Power Mode
Settings: Device care: Tap “Battery”: Power saving
3 / 4
iPhone
Add a Bluetooth device
Settings: Bluetooth
Settings: Connections: Bluetooth: Tap “Bluetooth”
2 / 4
iPhone
Enable Dark mode
Settings: Display & Brightness: Select Dark
Settings: Display: Dark
3 / 3
Tie
Free up space in storage
Settings: General: iPhone Storage: Recommendations; or Sort apps
Settings: Device care: Tap “Storage”: Review old files; “Unused apps;” “Duplicate files;” “Large files”
4 / 4
Tie
Check for a System Update
Settings: General: Software Update
Settings: Device care: Software update
3 / 3
Tie
Change my lock screen password
Settings: Face ID & Passcode: Change Passcode
Settings: Lock screen and AOD: Screen lock type: PIN/Pattern/Etc.
Settings: General: Transfer or Reset iPhone: Prepare for New iPhone / Reset / Erase All Content and Settings
Settings: General management: Reset: Reset … all settings / mobile network settings / Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings / accessibility settings / Factory data reset
4 / 4
Tie
The Galaxy phone is never faster. For half of these Settings, the iPhone took fewer steps than the Galaxy. For the other half, the Settings took the same number of steps on each phone. Nothing was ever faster on the Galaxy phone.
Samsung can have a faster processor, more megapixels, and all the specification wins that it likes. It isn’t beating Apple if the phone isn’t better to use. Here’s the proof, Samsung, that your phones are verifiably more complicated to use. More steps means slower. It’s time for Samsung to improve its software dramatically if it wants to be the best and the fastest phone around.
As businesses navigate the digital landscape, the threat of ransomware is rising. Every day brings innovative techniques for cyber criminals to perform more advanced and complex attacks. So, it has become quite clear that traditional defense strategies are no longer sufficient to effectively safeguard the business, improve identity security and combat attackers’ evolving tactics. In fact, 66% of companies were affected by ransomware in 2023, and this number is only expected to increase.
Ransomware is no longer just about creating sophisticated malicious software to infect people’s computers – cyberattackers have now started using and exploiting organizations’ legitimate software to conduct malicious activities and steal people’s identity without creating their own custom malware.
Cybercriminals capitalize on vulnerabilities in Open Source Software (OSS), seamlessly integrating their malicious elements into OSS framework. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has recently warned that this trend is only getting more common, highlighting instances like the Lockbit operation. This is an example of cyber attackers using legitimate, free software for various malicious activities, such as exploring networks, accessing remotely, tunnelling, stealing credentials and taking files.
Unfortunately, conventional endpoint security solutions often lack the behavior analytics capabilities necessary to detect subtle indicators of compromise such as unusual logins, privilege escalation, program execution or other risky activities. As such, by utilizing the tools already employed by organizations, attackers can acquire admin privileges more easily, while evading detection. Organizations must be aware of these evolving techniques and adapt their defense strategies accordingly.
Andy Thompson
Offensive Research Evangelist, CyberArk Labs.
Six tactics employed throughout the ransomware attack lifecycle
Ransomware actors increasingly use legitimate software to their advantage at various stages of the attack lifecycle. They employ many different tactics, techniques and procedures to advance their missions, including the examples highlighted below.
Initial Infection: Securing initial access presents a diverse range of options for attackers. Some opt for exploiting vulnerabilities, utilising common vulnerability exploitations (CVEs) against susceptible targets. Others resort to stealing, forging, altering or manipulating cookies from users’ web sessions. Alternatively, they employ phishing emails to deceive users into downloading genuine applications.
Persistence: Attackers leverage legitimate software to establish backdoors, ensuring persistence and command and control. This involves manipulating these tools to bypass Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), modify, or disable existing security tools to avoid detection, from terminating endpoint detection and response (EDR)- protected processes to modifying/deleting registry keys or configuration measures. In instances like the RMM ransomware attacks mentioned earlier, threat actors utilized portable executables within the software to gain access without requiring local admin privileges or a complete software installation.
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
Many default software programs on a machine become potential targets for hijacking, guaranteeing the execution of malicious programs. Application features such as task schedulers are also abused for maintaining persistence, launching programs or scripts at specified times.
Privilege Escalation: User Account Control (UAC) protects Windows operating systems, prompting admin credentials for any attempt to run a program as an administrator. While most ransomware today doesn’t demand admin rights, attackers often focus on bypassing UAC to elevate access and establish persistence.
Lateral Movement: Certain tools inadvertently facilitate malicious privilege escalation and lateral movement. Examples include AdFind, a command-line query tool for Active Directory, and AdvancedRun, enabling privilege escalation by altering settings before running software. Additionally, various Windows features functioning as remote procedural call (RPC) servers become vulnerable points for lateral movement when abused by attackers.
Encryption: Encryption serves both as a protective tool and a weapon. Encryption tools hide data from unauthorized users, but attackers can also weaponize them as ransomware. Legitimate access to encrypted data can be compromised to bypass encryption controls.
Data Exfiltration: Ransomware operators employing double-extortion techniques often utilize legitimate backup software tools or similar programs for data exfiltration. Recent research by CyberArk Labs noted the use of Discord, a popular collaboration app, for data exfiltration via webhooks.
Malicious actors are also adapting their tools to target multiple platforms and operating systems. For instance, they employ the cross-platform language Rust to target Linux. macOS is not exempt, with attackers exploiting Find My iPhone to infect Apple devices.
Enhancing defense strategies to block ransomware
As ransomware actors are increasingly exploiting legitimate software to perpetrate their attacks, organizations must remain vigilant and proactive in strengthening their identity management security strategies. In particular, embracing an identity-centric defense-in-depth approach is key. This approach includes important security controls such as endpoint detection and response (EDR), anti-virus (AV)/next-generation antivirus (NGAV), content disarm and reconstruction (CDR) email security and patch management – putting least privilege and behavior analytics at the core of the defense strategy.
So, by recognizing and addressing the tactics employed throughout the ransomware attack lifecycle – from initial infection to data exfiltration – companies can bolster their defenses, enhance identity security, mitigate the risk posed by cyber criminals, and safeguard the business against the ever-evolving threat of ransomware.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro
The rising cost of living has led to some holding onto their phones longer than ever. Coupled with the steady rises in the price of phones, we’re buying phones less often but expecting longer hardware and software lifespans.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8 series have addressed the software side by providing support cycles of seven years of OS updates. This extended software support seems appealing at first glance, but I’m not so sure. Instead, I feel that the promise of longevity via continued updates is just another marketing strategy to convince you to buy an expensive flagship device.
Call me cynical, but holding on to a phone for seven years and expecting it to run seamlessly seems unrealistic. Even if the software is updated, the outdated hardware will struggle with modern apps’ increasing complexity and demands. If you want your phone for anything more than light use, this could be a problem.
What’s more, older hardware could miss new features applied in future software updates. For instance, the seven-year-old Google Pixel 2 lacks 5G support, and older Samsung devices may not run the latest Galaxy AI features.
Extended OS support made me think about what it would be like to use my hopelessly outdated Samsung Galaxy S8 from seven years ago today. Not that it was a bad phone, it’s just that technology has advanced rapidly in the past few years, particularly in processor, battery, and camera technology, and many devices begin to feel sluggish and old long before their software support period is up.
Instead of returning to a seven-year-old device and tearing my hair out waiting for it to load, I switched to my relatively newer and more capable, four-year-old Samsung Galaxy S20 to see if it could still hold its own among the newest smartphones.
So, I begrudgingly removed my SIM card from my cutting-edge OnePlus 12 and slapped it back into my old Galaxy S20, transporting myself back to 2020…
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
Design
The first thing that struck me about the Samsung Galaxy S20 was how compact and light it is compared to many modern phones. I’m also a big fan of the curved design that has been mostly replaced by a thicker, flat body in many recent flagships.
The compact size feels so comfortable and much more pocketable than many of today’s phones, bar the base iPhone 15. Still, this more compact design comes at the cost of a smaller screen, which makes watching films and videos and gaming a little harder, but not impossible.
On my second day using the Galaxy S20, I accidentally dropped it in the sink. Thankfully, I discovered it is more water resistant than my OnePlus 12, with an IP68 rating compared to the IP65 on that device, meaning I can honestly say “they don’t make them like they used to”.
(Image credit: Future)
Display
The screen on the Galaxy S20 holds up the best to its modern contemporary. The 6.2-inch AMOLED display supports HDR10+, a fast 120Hz refresh rate, and 1,200 nits peak brightness, which is respectable even four years later.
It’s also a pixel powerhouse due to its high resolution of 1440 x 3200, which makes it better than its successors, the Galaxy S21, S22, and even the S23. It’s even slightly higher resolution than my OnePlus 12’s 1440 x 3168; it really is incredibly sharp.
Samsung is known for its vibrant displays and the Galaxy S20 is no exception, offering rich, saturated colors. That said, gaming felt a little cramped and slightly less responsive on this screen, which led to more than a few untimely deaths.
Performance and gaming
The Galaxy S20 uses a Samsung Exynos 990 processor, and I had low expectations for this older chip. I needn’t have worried: it was much snappier than I predicted, with most apps booting up quickly and feeling responsive.
It could just about run demanding games like COD Mobile and Genshin Impact at mid-to-high settings, albeit with a few issues. For instance, I did notice the odd stutter, and it couldn’t seem to maintain high performance. The phone also became noticeably warm when running games, and despite running the battery down very quickly, I was too worried to plug it in while playing due to the heat build-up.
The Galaxy S20’s performance was confirmed with benchmarking software. It received a decent score of 1,260 for Single-Core processing and 3,287 for Multi-Core, outperforming newer mid-rangers such as the Google Pixel 7a and Samsung Galaxy A54.
My Galaxy S20 came with 8GB RAM, but this can be boosted by up to an additional 8GB of virtual RAM, another feature I assumed was a more recent development but was pleased to see included. This allows you to run more apps in the background simultaneously.
However, the version I used had only 128GB of storage, which seems small until you consider it comes with expandable memory via a microSD slot. This feature is almost extinct in modern smartphones and certainly doesn’t appear in flagship phones these days. I had forgotten how easy microSD slots made transferring files such as photos and music to and from my PC, and I wish this feature would return to premium handsets.
Camera
(Image credit: Future)
The S20’s camera system isn’t much to look at; the phone’s compact size means it has to use smaller sensors than some contemporary camera modules. However, it does still have a triple camera system, which consists of a 12MP main, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 64MP telephoto.
In use, it was decent enough – but not a patch on the best camera phones available today. Like chipsets, cameras have developed incredibly quickly over the past five years, so while the Galaxy S20 still takes sharp and good-quality pictures in ideal lighting conditions, it lacks some modern features that I take for granted.
One of the modern features I missed most was the periscope zoom from my OnePlus 12; the S20’s 64MP telephoto loses image quality as soon as you get a little over three times zoom. Its low-light performance wasn’t nearly as clear or detailed as some modern phones, either, and it was also harder to take pictures with a nicely blurred-out background.
(Image credit: Future / James Ide)
The colors were inconsistent, sometimes appearing quite bright, but other items looked dull. Neither seemed as accurate as those on the newer Google Pixel or OnePlus 12. Oh, and the dynamic range was slightly more limited than with my OnePlus 12, with some details blown out in highlights or lost in dark corners.
Battery
The S20’s 4,000mAh capacity battery can’t compete against the latest phones, which generally hold a larger charge and support faster charging, usually aided by much more efficient hardware.
However, the Galaxy S20 lasted almost a full day during the time I was using it, as long as I didn’t play intense games, watch lots of videos, or attempt to do anything fun. Otherwise, it dropped to under 5 hours. It supports 24W wired charging, which isn’t great – but on the flip side, the iPhone 15 only gets 20W charging, so it isn’t terrible either.
One big difference I noticed is was that the Galaxy S20 took over an hour to charge, which seems too long these. Then again, maybe I’ve been spoilt by the OnePlus 12’s fast charging, which is truly incredible; that phone takes just 26 minutes to juice up in full.
Admitting defeat?
So, did my time with the Samsung Galaxy S20 prove my point that older hardware will never stand up to the test of time and be worth continued software support? Well, yes and no.
First, the good: the S20 is an exceptional phone with hardware that held up much better than I had expected.
However, it still has some fundamental problems related to its age that a slick design and an exceptional screen couldn’t help me overlook. For example, it has a less efficient chipset, weaker battery and slower charging, and mixed photo quality. These drawbacks made it harder for me to rely on for day-to-day use, and I was ultimately relieved to return to my OnePlus 12.
The fact is, I wouldn’t keep it as my daily driver even if this model were still supported for another three years. What’s more, I suspect most phones won’t age as gracefully as the four-year-old Galaxy S20 has. And in another three years, it will truly be an anachronism.
So while I don’t consider long software support commitments to be a bad thing in themselves, I really don’t see the likes of the Pixel 8 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra being able to keep up in the far-flung year of 2031, and I suspect I’ll have my eye on the Pixel 15 or Galaxy S31 by then.
The US government says Apple is holding back smartphones. Using tactics that make its competitors seem worse, rather than making its own phones better, Apple has unfairly hurt competitors like Samsung and Google, says the Justice Department. Whether or not the government is right, one thing is clear – Samsung has been making terrible software for years, and it can’t blame Apple.
Among all the major smartphone makers, Samsung saw the threat from Apple’s iPhone earlier than most. Among the biggest phone makers of the day (2007), Blackberry execs dismissed Apple as a consumer play, and Nokia stuck to its aging and unfriendly software. Only Samsung changed course quickly to meet the iPhone.
The Nokia N95 was the coolest phone ever before the iPhone came along (Image credit: Future)
Unfortunately, Samsung thought the iPhone was all about features. It never understood that the iPhone’s real advancement was making those features so incredibly easy to use with intuitive software.
The first Samsung competitor to the iPhone was the silly little Samsung Instinct, a feature phone running Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, with a better-than-average web browser, music player, and even simple apps. It was terrible, especially compared to the iPhone. But it looked like an iPhone, if you squinted just right. It was a poor replacement, but it checked most of the same boxes.
With Android came a win, but it was the wrong win
Samsung’s first Android phones were equally terrible. Before the Galaxy came along, we got the Samsung Behold, which was the worst smartphone I ever used. It stacked that TouchWiz feature phone interface on top of Android. On a spreadsheet of features, the Behold could match the iPhone row-for-row, but actually using the phone was a terrible ordeal.
When the Samsung Galaxy phones came along, they represented the first win for Samsung, but this victory only pointed the company more firmly in the wrong direction. What made the original Galaxy phone great, especially compared to the iPhone, was the OLED display. Apple didn’t adopt OLED for its iPhone display panels until the iPhone X. Samsung’s OLED Galaxy phones gave the company a win on paper, and that’s the only win that matters to Samsung.
The iPhone X was the first iPhone to match Samsung’s OLED display (Image credit: TechRadar)
Why is OLED better? First of all, OLED looks fantastic, especially on a small display where you can see the difference in contrast up close. Colors pop on an OLED display, and because black areas are completely dark, the contrast level approaches infinity. Second, OLED provides some minimal battery saving, since the dark parts of the screen are not drawing any power. In practice, it’s a small advantage, maybe 5% per day, but it’s measurable.
Samsung had a spec win. It won with a feature the iPhone wouldn’t match. It still used terrible software, still a version of the same terrible TouchWiz interface that it used on the Samsung Instinct feature phone. Even with hardware that could compete with the best, Samsung was hobbled by software that was born in the days when phones were plastic toys.
Fifteen years of spec improvements and bad software
Over the next 15 years, Samsung would follow the same pattern. It would aspire to beat Apple in terms of specs and hardware features. It would win on paper. It would launch phones with more and more.
First we got phones with larger displays. We got a stylus built in, even though we all knew styli were dead. We got more cameras, zoom cameras, then space cameras. We got glass that curved, then glass that folds. Features upon features. No improvement to the software.
Samsung can make phones that fold in half but not good software (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
In all those years, Samsung never made its software better, not better than Apple. We heard about every superlative spec, every clock-beating feat, but as much as reviewers griped and complained about bad, confusing, and overwrought software, Samsung never budged. It never improved significantly.
Samsung was able to give up glossy plastic phones, removable batteries, home buttons, and everything else, just to beat the iPhone. Somehow, it never cared enough about improving its software. Or else, it never thought beating Apple at software would be possible.
Maybe Apple is winning because … it’s better?!
There are many reasons why Apple has the huge market share it claims, and Samsung lags far behind in the US. I’d say that Apple simply makes a superior product. The iPhone, and I mean every iPhone from the least to the best iPhone, is better than the Samsung Galaxy S24. Unless you are buying the absolute best Galaxy S24 Ultra, you are buying an inferior phone.
The reason is software. Apple’s iOS 17 software isn’t just better, it is an entire experience. The features and the hardware and the software all work together seamlessly. Sometimes it works so well it can be frightening.
Admit it, iOS 17 just looks cooler than anything from Samsung (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
Samsung’s Galaxy phones are good in spite of the software, just barely. Its best Ultra phones are so packed with useful features that we must forgive the terrible interface, clogged menus, and overwhelming home screens. However, if you don’t find those features useful, or if you never find those features at all, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra won’t be a phone you enjoy, unlike the iPhone.
Whatever the Justice Department decides to do about Apple, I hope Samsung turns a blind eye, because its problems have nothing to do with Apple’s market power. Samsung has had the same problems for years, and if it expects sympathy for falling so far behind, it must fix its terrible software first.
Employee monitoring software refers to platforms that enable you to track your employees’ activities. They let you track working hours, location, computer usage, etc. They are helpful in office-based, remote, or hybrid workplaces. This article will explain employee monitoring software and how it works.
What is Employee Monitoring Software?
Employee monitoring software is a program that lets employers gather valuable data about their employees’ activities. You can use it to monitor the activities of office-based or remote employees.
Employee monitoring tools aren’t spooky, even though the definition might make them seem that way. They measure corporate activities in a non-invasive manner and guarantee user privacy. They’re exclusively for monitoring work-related activities and never personal affairs.
This software is valuable because it helps employers gather data about their staff. It lets employers know when broader productivity falls behind, needing immediate adjustments to guide employees toward better productivity. It informs employers about what works best for the team and how to adjust their strategy for optimal productivity.
Employee monitoring tools let you keep tabs on employees in various ways, including:
Web tracking: Logging the websites visited during working hours, letting you analyze the time spent on productive work.
Email monitoring: Tracking inbound and outbound work emails to prevent data leaks.
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
Call monitoring: Listening to work-related calls, e.g., customer support calls, to analyze them and identify areas needing improvement.
Location monitoring: Tracking time-in and time-outs for employees.
Network monitoring: Enables employers to monitor network activities to prevent data leaks and unauthorized data usage.
Keylogging: Recording keyboard logs on workplace-issued computers.
Video: Installing video surveillance at the workplace to monitor general activities.
Features of Employee Monitoring Software
These are the features to expect in an employee monitoring platform:
1. Keystroke logging
Your program should allow you to log any text typed on a work device. As an administrator, you should be allowed to look through the logged key history of any specific device to gather insights. For instance, you can identify the source of a data leak by checking whose keystrokes reveal they accessed the particular data at a specified time.
2. Live screenshot capture
Screenshots are a reliable way to monitor employees’ work activities. You don’t need to use a live screen recorder, which often makes users uncomfortable. Instead, your monitoring software should be able to take screenshots at specific intervals to confirm an employee is doing their required work.
For example, you can set your monitoring program to take a screenshot every 10 minutes. Then, you can view all the captured screenshots for all employees in one gallery. If an employee’s screenshots primarily consist of non-work-related activities, you can ask them for clarification and take further action.
You can also find employee monitoring tools that offer live screen monitoring if that’s what you want.
3. Time tracking
Time management is closely linked to productivity. Your employee monitoring software should offer a tool to track time-ins and time-outs, especially for hourly workers. This feature allows you to keep tabs on working hours and ensure employees fulfill their end of the contract.
The employee monitoring software should let you delegate shifts online, with each employee notified of their allotted shifts. You should have a dashboard to monitor all employees’ working hours and quickly identify anomalies that need further attention.
(Image credit: ActivTrak)
4. Email and chat monitoring
Your platform should allow you to monitor corporate emails and chats. You should have a record of who sent and received chats or emails via corporate accounts. For example, if a work email address sends data to a suspicious address, you should be able to detect it and raise an alarm. Email monitoring helps you prevent employees from accessing and transferring data without permission.
5. Browsing history
You should be able to view the browsing history of the work devices with the monitoring software installed. This feature lets you monitor if employees spend their time on productive work. It also lets you know if employees visit suspicious sites that could harm your corporate network.
Preferably, you should be able to block specific websites from your corporate network to prevent data leaks. Employees will see an error notification if they try to visit such sites.
6. Alerts
A good employee monitoring program should allow you to get automatic alerts based on suspicious behavior. For example, you can set the system to alert the administrator if an employee tries to visit a blocked site or tries to visit an internal page with sensitive information. The system will automatically take a screenshot to show as proof and alert you to take any needed action.
7. Network monitoring
Employee monitoring programs should let you keep tabs on employees’ network usage. For example, you can set up filters to prevent employees from visiting specific site categories, e.g., gambling and dark web sites that malicious actors often target. You can set download limits for work devices to optimize bandwidth usage. You should be able to remotely monitor a connected device’s screen.
Benefits of Employee Monitoring Software
Monitoring software offers various benefits to employers, including:
1. Managing productivity
Productivity is the bedrock of every company, and employee monitoring tools make it easier to manage productivity. These tools allow you to gather valuable insights about workplace productivity and adjust your strategy to maximize productivity.
For example, the software lets you monitor the time range where employees are most productive. With this information, you can delegate important tasks to be handled at that time range.
Monitoring software encourages accountability for employees. People are more willing to do the required work when they know a monitoring system is in place. It doesn’t have to be invasive; something as simple as a time-tracking system encourages employees to be more accountable.
2. Data security
Unauthorized data access can cause severe damage to every organization. Employee monitoring tools help prevent data loss from occurring.
How?
Monitoring software keeps tabs on your employees’ computer usage, letting you know who accessed any data and at what time. You can track web searches and history to know who accessed any specific link. You can track key logs to know who downloaded or leaked any information. You can track network access and file movement logs to see who accessed specific files.
Employee monitoring tools act as the overseeing eye at your organization, observing how employees handle sensitive data.
3. Compliance
Employee monitoring software is legally required in some industries like medicine, financial services, and law. For example, investment banks must keep logs of whoever accesses specific data in case of investigations. Medical institutions must monitor who accesses sensitive patient data so that potential leaks can be traced.
In these industries, you need employee monitoring tools to comply with regulations or risk heavy fines or bans.
4. Legal liability protection
Employee monitoring software helps give you liability protection in case of disputes. The software lets you keep accurate records of an employee’s activities (working hours, attendance trends, browsing activities, etc.). You can refer to these records in court if disputes arise.
For instance, if an employee was reprimanded for unauthorized data access and files a lawsuit, you can use the software to prove that the employee mishandled the data. Monitoring software gives you a paper trail you can refer to in legal cases.
5. Increased revenue
Low productivity costs global businesses massive amounts annually. You can reduce such loss for your business by using employee monitoring tools. These tools analyze your employees’ activities and extract valuable insights.
How many customers do your staff attend to daily? How many support calls do they handle daily? How many meals are served per hour in your restaurant? These are the types of insights you easily get with monitoring software. Otherwise, you’ll have to gather this data manually, which takes much more time and effort.
With the insights you get, you can optimize your business processes for better productivity and claim lost revenue. For instance, if support staff aren’t closing the optimal number of tickets daily, you can provide more training or hire additional staff to reach the optimal level and keep your customers happy.
Any employer deploying monitoring software must consider the legal and ethical aspects. There are rules to follow to monitor corporate activities responsibly. Overdoing it might bring significant legal consequences or cause productivity to fall, the opposite of what you sought in the first place.
Let’s examine some questions regarding the ethics and legality of employee monitoring tools.
Are employee monitoring tools legal?
Yes, they are legal as long as you follow the relevant data collection laws in your jurisdiction. Workplace laws allow employers to digitally monitor employee activities to an extent. Monitoring is restricted to corporate activities. For example, employers can record work-related phone calls but not personal ones. Employers can monitor work-related email activities but not personal email correspondence.
You need to issue separate work devices to employees to monitor their activities. Monitoring personal devices requires explicit permission, which employees can reject without consequences.
In some U.S. states, like Connecticut and Delaware, employers must provide a formal notice to employees before monitoring them. In European Union (EU) countries, employees must also personally consent to your data collection, with a clear explanation of what data is being collected and why.
Check for relevant laws in your jurisdiction before installing employee monitoring software. Generally, you should build a culture of trust, letting employees know why you plan to install monitoring software and when you want to do it. They should know what data is being collected, how it’s being used, and the necessity for collecting the data. A high-trust culture between employers and employees contributes a lot to productivity.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Is it ethical to use employee monitoring software?
Yes, using employee monitoring tools is ethical if you only monitor workplace-related activities. Most employee monitoring tools have features that can be considered invasive. For instance, many allow administrators to automatically take screenshots at specified intervals to prove the user is working. The keylogging feature also keeps records of each key the user types.
Because of these invasive features, you must limit monitoring to workplace activities. Don’t try to monitor personal activities, or you risk legal consequences and breaking your trust with the employee. If you’re installing monitoring software, it’s advisable to send the employee a separate work device and let them know that activities on that device will be monitored. Monitoring personal activities is a no-no.
Ethical usage doesn’t only involve how you gather data; what you use the data for also matters. Use it only to extract insights that will improve workplace productivity. Don’t use the data to snoop on employees’ personal activities and break the trust you’ve built with them.
Consider data privacy when deploying monitoring software. The data you collect should stay and end in the workplace. Any data collected from work devices should be used for work-related activities only. Exposing the data to unauthorized parties without explicit consent is a no-no.
Factors to consider when choosing Employee Monitoring Software
These are the primary considerations when choosing an employee monitoring tool:
1. Cost
Compare the pricing of different programs and choose one you can afford in the long term. Monitoring tools usually charge a fixed monthly or annual fee per device, making it easy to estimate what you’ll pay.
2. Ease of use
You need a tool with an intuitive interface you can easily navigate. The employee monitoring system should be easy to install and manage on multiple devices. You should have an interactive dashboard to monitor employees’ activities and extract insights.
3. Scalability
You need a tool that can easily scale without sacrificing speed and performance. You should be able to install the system on more devices as your company grows, and it’ll continue working as usual. The system should not be significantly affected by increased usage.
4. Customer support
You need an employee monitoring software with an excellent support team. The team should be available to contact by telephone, live chat, or email if possible 24/7.
Conclusion
We have explained what you need to know about employee monitoring software; what it does, its features, benefits, and the legal & ethical considerations of using it. We also explained the most important considerations for choosing employee monitoring software. Follow our tips, and you’ll likely choose a platform you’ll appreciate in the long term.
