Samsung partners with BlackBerry to help make Knox more secure
Samsung’s Developers Conference returns Nov. 11-13 at Moscone West in San Francisco
Samsung announced today that its official Developers Conference is returning again this year and will kick off November 11 at Moscone West in San Francisco. Last year, Samsung held its first developer conference in San Francisco in October and showed off a number of new features for developers across its product lineups. That includes its Mobile SDK for Android, Smart TV SDK 5.0 Multiscreen Gaming SDK, Multiscreen SDK, and its KNOX Enterprise SDK beta that’s arriving this year natively in Android. This year Samsung makes a venue change to the Moscone West Center used by both Apple and Google for their developer conferences that took place earlier this year.
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Samsung hints at upcoming iris detection features, will bring biometric sensors to low-end devices
Samsung is looking to bring biometric sensors including fingerprint sensors and beyond to not just future flagship models but also its low-end and entry-level smartphones as well. The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung’s senior vice president Rhee In-jong confirmed that biometric sensors for security features— such as the fingerprint scanner already included in Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S5— will also soon come to the company’s less expensive devices. In addition, he hinted that iris detection features could be the next sensor technology it taps into for high-end devices:
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Bring your Samsung Galaxy S5 to work with Knox 2.0
Samsung’s Galaxy S5 might be dust and water resistant, but the company’s flagship smartphone is now ready to take on the roughest of terrains — the office. Today, the South Korean electronics manufacturer announced a new version of its Knox security software that lets GS5 owners use their phone at their job. Rebranded as Knox Workspace, this updated platform features two new cloud-based services Knox EMM and Knox Marketplace. The former gives your employer’s IT department remote access to your device, while the latter is the software’s dedicated app store.
Pentagon approves Samsung Knox and BlackBerry 10 for government use ahead of iOS 6
Earlier this week we told you that the Defense Department was nearing a decision on approving the three major mobile platforms through new security approvals that would allow widespread use of devices by government agencies and the DoD networks. While the department is yet to grant approval to Apple’s iOS 6 for for nonclassified communications by military agencies, today the Wall Street Journal provides an update noting that both Samsung’s Knox security software and BlackBerry 10 have now received the approvals ahead of Apple:
RIM announced late Thursday that the Department of Defense approved smartphones and tablets running on BlackBerry 10, the company’s new operating system, for use throughout DOD networks…Samsung devices outfitted with Knox, the company’s new security software offering, also received Pentagon approval Thursday, according to a DOD spokesman. Apple’s approval is still expected in the “next few weeks,” according to the spokesman.
As of February, BlackBerry made up the majority of the 600,000 devices on the DoD’s networks. Currently the networks consist of around 470,000 BlackBerrys, 41,000 Apple products, and 8,700 Android devices, although that could quickly change thanks to the new security approvals allowing more government agencies to adopt Samsung and Apple devices.