Samsung’s newly announced Galaxy S20 phones have several features that make them different from both last year’s Galaxy S10 and Apple’s current iPhones.
They all support 5G connectivity, unlike the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, and come with larger cameras with higher-resolution sensors.
Plus, their screens can reach a refresh rate of 120Hz, a feature Apple offers on the iPad but not the iPhone.
Earlier this week, Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S20 lineup, which offers a camera setup with larger sensors, 5G support across all variants, and a screen with a higher refresh rate, among other changes. All of these features differentiate the new lineup from last year’s Galaxy S10 – and Apple’s latest iPhones.
It’s worth noting, however, that Samsung’s phones are more expensive than Apple’s. The Galaxy S20 starts at $1,000, while the iPhone 11 begins at $700. The larger Galaxy S20 Plus begins at $1,200 and its larger sibling, the S20 Ultra, costs at least $1,400. The iPhone 11 Pro, by comparison, starts at $1,000, and the 11 Pro Max begins at $1,100.
Here’s a closer look at some of the features found on Samsung’s Galaxy S20 that are missing from the iPhone.
Bigger screens
Foto: sourceAntonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
Samsung’s new phones all offer larger screens than Apple’s iPhone 11 family. The Galaxy S20 has a 6.2 inch screen, while the Galaxy S20 Plus has a 6.7-inch display and the Galaxy S20 Ultra has a 6.9-inch screen. The iPhone 11, however, has a 6.1-inch display, while the iPhone 11 Pro has a 5.8-inch screen and the iPhone 11 Pro Max has a 6.5-inch display.
A notch-free screen
Foto: sourceHollis Johnson/Business Insider
Apple replaced the traditional bezel with a „notch“ cutout that sits just above the screen starting with the iPhone X in 2017. That notch is necessary to provide space for the iPhone’s front-facing camera and facial-recognition sensors. And in 2019, two years later, the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro still have that very same notch.
But Samsung has taken a different approach with its Galaxy S20 phones and last year’s Galaxy S10. Those phones have a smaller cutout that resembles a hole punch, which Samsung calls its „Infinity-O“ display.
Higher-resolution camera sensors
Foto: sourceAntonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
The cameras on Samsung’s new phones are also much different than Apple’s. The Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus have camera systems that consist of a 12-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera, a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera, and a 64-megapixel telephoto camera. The Plus-sized model also has a fourth camera for depth-sensing.
But it’s the Ultra model that really stands out for its camera. The high-end model comes with a 108-megapixel wide angle camera, a 48-megapixel telephoto camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a depth-sensing camera. Samsung also says the 108 megapixels on the Ultra model are capable of grouping together to form a larger 12-megapixel sensor that can take in more light.
The iPhone 11, by comparison, has a dual 12-megapixel camera with a wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lens, while the Pro models have triple-camera systems with an additional 12-megapixel telephoto camera.
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra also has a higher resolution 40-megapixel selfie camera, while the other two models have a 10-megapixel front-facing camera. That’s compared to the iPhone’s 12-megapixel selfie camera.
A camera that can zoom in closer
Foto: sourceAntonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
In addition to having higher-resolution sensors than Apple’s iPhones, the Galaxy S20’s camera can also zoom in further than the cameras on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. The Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus have an optical zoom of up to 3X and a digital zoom of up to 30X, while the Galaxy S20 Plus has an optical zoom of up to 10X and a digital zoom of up to 100X.
The iPhone 11 has a digital zoom of 5X, while the iPhone 11 Pro has a 2X optical zoom and a 10X digital zoom.
A camera that can take photos in different modes with one press of the shutter button
Foto: sourceAntonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
It’s not just the camera hardware that Samsung changed with its Galaxy S20. The company also added a new feature called Single Take, which captures video clips and stills in multiple formats with a single press of the shutter button.
The iPhone doesn’t have this specific feature, but the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro do have a feature called QuickTake, which lets you shoot a video without switching out of photo mode.
More storage in the base-level model
Foto: sourceCrystal Cox/Business Insider
The base model of Samsung’s newest devices come with 128GB of storage, whereas the entry-level iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro have 64GB of onboard space.
5G compatibility
Foto: sourceSamsung/YouTube
All of Samsung’s new smartphones support 5G connectivity, but the less expensive Galaxy S20 can only connect to slower, mid-band networks. The Galaxy S20 Plus and S20 Ultra, on the other hand, support super-fast millimeter wave 5G networks, although the downside is that these speedier networks don’t have long ranges for covering broad distances.
None of Apple’s current iPhones support 5G, but that will reportedly change this year as the company’s iPhone 12 lineup is expected to support the next-generation network.
Still, it’s worth noting that 5G networks still have yet to mature in the United States. Networks from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint are only available in a handful of cities across the country, and even in those cities it’s usually only available in select areas. T-Mobile’s 5G network is available across the country, but only in select areas.
A screen with a 120Hz refresh rate
Foto: sourceAntonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
You can boost the Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, and S20 Ultra’s screen refresh rate up to 120Hz, which is higher than the average refresh rate of 60Hz on most smartphones.
Boosting the refresh rate should make navigating the operating system and scrolling feel smoother and more natural. Apple’s iPad Pro models are capable of refreshing at 120Hz through a feature the company calls ProMotion, but this has yet to make its way to the iPhone.
A fingerprint sensor that’s embedded in the screen
Foto: sourceAntonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
Apple axed the fingerprint sensor in favor of Face ID when it killed the home button in 2017 with the iPhone X. And it has yet to bring it back.
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 devices and last year’s Galaxy S10 devices (excluding the S10e) each have a fingerprint sensor embedded in the display, giving users a choice between unlocking their device through fingerprint or facial recognition. Apple’s newer smartphones, like the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, only support facial recognition.
Reverse wireless charging
Foto: sourceAntonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 lineup, as well as its older Galaxy S10 phones, are capable of wirelessly charging other devices by resting them on the phone’s back. Rumors suggested that Apple was planning to bring this feature to the iPhone 11 lineup, but no such feature exists on the iPhone.
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
