Samsung Patches Vulnerability in The Exynos Processor

Samsung promised in December that it would address a serious security hole in some of its smartphones and tablets running Exynos processors "as quickly as possible," and it looks like the company has begun that process. T-Mobile has released an over-the-air update today to its Galaxy Note II customers that offers "Exynos and other security enhancements." In addition, Sprint has released its own over-the-air update for the Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch with unspecified "security updates" that are said to address the Exynos exploit.

The security hole was first discovered in mid-December, when xda-developers users found that malicious apps could gain root access to certain devices on their own accord, leaving user data and other primary phone functions vulnerable. Samsung previously released an update to Galaxy S III devices in the UK to fix the exploit, but multiple models including the international Galaxy S II, Galaxy Note, and Galaxy Note II remain exposed at this time. The good news is that users will remain safe so long as they limit themselves to downloading popular and well-known applications.

Update: Article modified to clarify that Samsung patched some UK Galaxy S III's earlier this month. [TheVerge]

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Samsung Sales of the Popular Galaxy S3 Handset Reach 40 Million

Samsung said it was selling around 190,000 Galaxy S III handsets everyday and had now sold more than 100 million of its Galaxy S smartphones. That figure includes around 40 million Galaxy S II handsets and 20 million Galaxy S smartphones.

Last year, Samsung became the leader in worldwide smartphone shipments. In the third quarter of 2012, the company increased its share of smartphone shipments to 31.3 per cent, according to IDC.

In contrast, Samsung's key rival Apple had a 14.6 per cent share of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of last year. Apple is said to be considering a new iPhone model, possibly a cheaper one, to better challenge low cost smartphones running Google's Android operating system.

Earlier today it was reported that Apple had cut orders for LCD panels for the iPhone 5 by as much as half for the coming quarter. Apple's shares fell more than 13 per cent on the news, dropping below $500 for the first time in almost a year.

In a statement, Samsung said: "The driving force behind Samsung Electronics' rise to the top on the global smartphone market is Galaxy S II which is gaining ground as a steady seller hitting the sales of over 40 million in only 20 months." 

                                                  Apple Shares Fall Bellow $500

Last week, Samsung said it expected to report record profits of around 8.8 trillion won (£5.2bn) for the last quarter of 2012, an increase of 89 per cent on the previous year.

The company's mobile division has driven earnings growth in recent quarters and that is likely to continue with more than 60 million of Samsung's various smartphone models shipped in the last quarter, according to analyst's estimates.

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S IV soon, possibly as early as next month. The device is expected to feature a higher resolution screen and a more powerful processor.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, Samsung showed off the prototype for a flexible smartphone. [Telegraph Tech]

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