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Samsung explores partnership with OpenAI to enhance Galaxy AI with ChatGPT

According to a report, Samsung and OpenAI are in talks to form a partnership and potentially integrate ChatGPT into Samsung Galaxy AI services.

Earlier, The Information suggested that a potential partnership between Samsung and OpenAI might be happening, but now analyst Dan Nystedt took it to X to share that OpenAI is in talks with Samsung over bringing its AI technology to Samsung’s devices. This could be bad news for Google because Samsung is already a key partner.

Google seems to have been the target of the DOJ for its monopolistic practices for quite some time. The regulatory authorities are firm on breaking Google’s dominance in the search engine industry and even pushing the company to sell off Chrome. While Google’s hands are full dealing with legal matters, the Department of Justice is not the only thing it has to worry about.

Google’s established presence in the search engine market is already being challenged actively, with tech experts suggesting that if the company is to sell off Chrome, it would make more sense for OpenAI to acquire it, keeping in view its vigorous attempts to bring robust AI-driven experience. With OpenAI not only challenging Google’s position as the search engine giant but also looking for integration with Google’s partner, Samsung, it can pose some serious threats to the company.

As of now, Samsung uses its own LLM and Google’s Gemini AI to power its Galaxy AI features. It will be interesting to see how ChatGPT fits in all of this.For instance, Apple leverages OpenAI’s ChatGPT for its own Apple Intelligence, but only when the on-device models aren’t sufficient for the task at hand. That’s when the system asks ChatGPT for help.We could see a similar implementation in Galaxy AI or use ChatGPT’s service altogether. 

OpenAI becomes increasingly competitive toward Google with the announcement of its Search service and is now trying to snatch Google’s long-term partners.The same report claims that OpenAI is even working on a ChatGPT-powered browser. The company has already hired developers who have worked on Chrome.

But until either of the companies officially confirms its ongoing initiatives, the leaks or reports should be taken with a grain of salt. If OpenAI does end up collaborating, it would not only mark an intense wave of competition in the AI ecosystem but also could change the dynamics of the industry, given how the company is determined to establish itself extensively and advance AI technology.

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Google introduces Restore Credentials to simplify app logins on new Android devices

If you lose your iPhone or buy an upgrade, you could reasonably expect to be up and running after an hour, presuming you backed up your prior model. Doing the same swap with an Android device is more akin to starting three-quarters fresh. That might change relatively soon,as Google has announced a new Restore Credentials feature.

Transferring your data from your old Android device to a new one will soon be less daunting, thanks to “Restore Credentials,” a new developer feature for Android which can keep you logged into your apps when you make the switch. While some apps already did this, Google is making it easier for developers to include this experience by implementing a “restore key” that automatically transfers to the new phone and logs you back into the app.

The change should help make going from one Android phone to another more like upgrading an iPhone. Apple users who move from one iPhone to another are used to having everything from email accounts to app credentials transfer to the new phone, but it hasn’t always been so seamless for Android users.

Google notes that there is “no user interaction required” on its flowchart showing signing in on one device, backing it up to the cloud, and having that key come back when setting up the new device. There is, of course, a direct device-to-device option for manually moving over app restore keys.

Restore keys can also be backed up to the cloud, although developers can opt out. For that reason, transferring directly from device to device will still likely be more thorough than restoring from the cloud, as is the case with Apple devices today. Notably, Google says restore keys do not transfer if you delete an app and reinstall it.

It’s very much in Android’s interest to reduce the friction of setting up a new phone deeply hooked into Google rather than inviting inquiries into the Cupertino-based alternatives. It’s also a quiet boon to anybody who does a full reset on their phone, whether by choice or out of frustration.

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The first developer preview of Android 16 is now available

Android 15 just arrived on Pixel devices last month, but the first Android 16 developer preview is set to be released today — which is significantly earlier than we would have previously expected.

For reference, the first developer preview for Android 15 was released back in February, followed by the first beta release in April. So Google is effectively running 3 months ahead of schedule.

Considering Android 15 release much later than many people had hoped, things do seem to be moving rather quickly. Google has also elaborated promising that the Major SDK release will happen in Q2 2025, complete with Behavior changes, APIs and new features. Then a minor SDK release will follow in Q4 with new APIs and features — but without any “app-impacting behavior changes”.

Android 16 developer preview’s newest features

Google has given us a glimpse at what’s coming in the next major version of Android. The first is the latest version of Android’s Privacy Sandbox, which will offer more robust safeguards around users’ data collection and sharing. This will also feature SDK Runtime, which allows SDKs to “run in a dedicated runtime environment separate from the app they are serving.”

Also the preview available today allows developers to embed Android’s photo picker — the menu that lets users select specific images and videos they want to share — directly into their apps. This should make sharing media with apps more seamless without granting them access to your entire device or cloud storage library. It also includes the latest version of Privacy Sandbox, Google’s in-development replacement for Android’s advertising ID.

Finally, a preview of the Health Connect app “contains an early version of APIs supporting health records” that “allows apps to read and write medical records in FHIR format,” according to Google. This could let apps and medical devices share information and medical records (with explicit consent from the user) the way wearables and fitness trackers already do, mirroring a similar Apple Health feature on iPhones.

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Google fixes two Android vulnerability used in targeted attacks

Google fixed two actively exploited Android zero-day flaws as part of its November security updates, addressing a total of 51 vulnerabilities: CVE-2024-43047, a flaw affecting Qualcomm chipsets, and CVE-2024-43093, a vulnerability in the Google Play framework.

“There are indications that the following may be under limited, targeted exploitation,” says Google’s advisory.

Qualcomm patched CVE-2024-43047 – a use-after-free vulnerability in the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) service that could be exploited to escalate privileges on targeted devices – in October 2024, and urged original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to deploy the patches as soon as possible.

CVE-2024-43093 is also a high-severity elevation of privilege flaw,that allows privilege escalation and has been fixed by restricting access to “Android/data,” “Android/obb,” and “Android/sandbox” directories and their sub-directories. This time impacting the Android Framework component and Google Play system updates, specifically in the Documents UI.

While Google did not share any details on how the vulnerabilities were exploited, as researchers at Amnesty International discovered CVE-2024-43047, it could indicate that the flaw was used in targeted spyware attacks.

Propagating fixes in the Android ecosystem

Google issues two patch levels each month, in this case, November 1 (2024-11-01 Patch Level) and November 5 (2024-11-05 Patch Level).

The first level addresses core Android vulnerabilities, with 17 issues this time, while the second patch level encompasses those plus vendor-specific fixes (Qualcomm, MediaTek, etc.), counting an additional 34 fixes this month.

To apply the latest update, head toSettings>System>Software updates>System update.Alternatively, go toSettings>Security & privacy>System & updates>Security update. A restart will be required to apply the update.

Android 11and olderare no longer supported but may receive security updates to critical issues for actively exploited flaws through Google Play system updates, though that’s not guaranteed.

The best course of action for devices still running those older releases should be either to replace them with newer models or use a third-party Android distribution that incorporates the latest security fixes.