U.S. Senator Al Franken, Chairman of the Senate’s Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, has questions about the fingerprint scanner and its functionality in the newly launched Galaxy S5. On Tuesday, he sent Samsung a letter asking for answers on how the technology is supposed to work, and how Samsung is guarding the privacy of Galaxy S5 buyers using it.

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Reporting results for fiscal year 2014 on Tuesday, Take-Two Interactive revealed that the enormously popular Grand Theft Auto V has now shipped over 33 million copies. Rockstar’s latest title, which accounted for over half of all game software sales in the month it launched, has generated well over $1 billion for Take-Two, contributing heavily to one of the most successful years in the publisher’s history.

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Microsoft is expected to unveil a Surface mini next week during a special media event, possibly alongside other Surface products, according to a recent Bloomberg report. One of these devices may be the Surface Pro 3, The Verge reports, as the unreleased device has been spotted on a Microsoft Windows 8.1 support page published on Tuesday.

“An update is available that adds support to the Surface Pro 3 camera,” the document reads, although the Surface Pro 3 device is yet to become official. There’s always the possibility that “Surface Pro 3” is actually a typo, but multiple sources expect Microsoft to release more Surface tablets soon, not just the mini version.

In addition to Bloomberg, CNET has also confirmed with a chip industry source that a new Intel-based Surface product is in the works. “There’s definitely a new Intel-based Surface,” the unnamed source said. “From what I can assess so far I think it’s going to [have] a new power-optimized Haswell variant.”

The current-generation Surface Pro 2 uses an Intel Haswell chip, but it would make sense to see a new Surface Pro model released to take advantage of an even more efficient Haswell processor. Similarly, Apple has just released new MacBook Air versions, an overall minor update compared to 2013 models. This year’s Airs pack a new Haswell chip version that offer slightly improved performance and battery life, and sell for $100 less than their predecessors.

Microsoft’s press conference will take place on May 20, and BGR will be reporting live from the company’s Surface event.

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Following the outbreak of Heartbleed, Internet users are more wary than ever of potential exploits and hacks, which makes the timing of Google’s latest security initiative pretty much perfect. Google has begun its implementation of an automatic two-step authentication process for users of Google Apps services, requiring anyone attempting to access an account to input both the password and a unique code sent to a mobile device. Google has had dual-factor authentication for some time, but the new Login Challenge will provide an extra layer of safety.

According to the Login Challenge page on Google’s support site, if the web giant detects a hacker attempting to access an account, the hacker will be presented with a challenge asking them to verify their identity.

“When a suspicious login is detected, we send a challenge to the user such as an SMS with a verification code to the user’s phone and ask them to enter this code before we grant access to their account. This drastically reduces the chances of an unauthorized user accessing the account because the attacker would have to get a hold of the user’s phone as well as the username and password.”

Google does not specify how it will detect suspicious logins, but one can assume that multiple incorrect password attempts will be a primary method. If for any reason the account owner cannot access his or her account and doesn’t have access to a phone for SMS messages, the Login Challenge can be disabled through the Google Admin console.

The feature should roll out for all domains in the coming weeks.

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The OnePlus One is one of the most buzzed-about under-the-radar phones released so far this year and has even inspired some Android fans to post videos of themselves smashing their old phones in anticipation of getting one. However, a newly posted unboxing video shows why smashing your smartphone before you get your copy of the OnePlus One is a truly foolish decision.

Droid Life draws our attention to a new video posted by an Italian OnePlus One fan who was one of the 100 winners in OnePlus’s “Smash the Past” contest. The man received a package in the mail that he believed contained his very own copy of the hard-to-find OnePlus One but he noticed that it seemed disturbingly light. It turns out that there was a good reason for the package’s lightness that had nothing to do with the OnePlus One’s super-slim frame: Upon opening up the box he found that it was completely empty other than a card telling him that “This is only the beginning.”

Droid Life says that OnePlus is apparently aware of the problem and is investigating to figure out why one of its 100 contest winners received nothing but an empty box. For his sake, we really, really hope that the unlucky fan wasn’t stupid enough to smash his phone into tiny bits before getting the OnePlus One in the mail.

Check out the whole video in all its hilariously sad glory below.

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Net neutrality is obviously a very hot issue right now. Legions of web users have taken to Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere to voice their concerns about the FCC’s revised proposal, which seems to be designed specifically to allow Internet service providers to charge more to big companies looking for faster connections to end users. FCC chairman Tom Wheeler reportedly plans to further revise the commission’s most recent proposal but regardless of his plans, one industry watcher believes broadband service is about to get even more expensive for Internet users in the United States.

Households in the U.S. already pay a tremendous amount of money for Internet service. A “triple play” package that includes relatively slow broadband service, a basic pay TV package and VoIP phone service might start at between $80 and $100 per month at most major service providers, and then it jumps to well over $100 after a year or two.

Contrast that with Seoul, South Korea, where a package that includes phone service, pay TV and 100Mbps Internet service costs $35 per month.

Forbes contributor Raj Sabhlok believes that despite the fact that we already pay so much for home broadband here in America, service is about to get even more expensive.

“Regardless of the latest FCC assurances, the most likely scenario is that consumers will end up paying taxes in one way or another, likely in the form of additional fees,” Sabhlok wrote in a recent column. “While the media attention regarding the proposal has focused on content providers being taxed, I’d be shocked if the financial impact doesn’t trickle down to the already burdened consumer.”

He continued, “Expect to see providers suddenly offering new ‘tiers’ of service, where you’ll pay more just to continue to receive what you’re currently getting. With the average U.S. Internet consumer paying nearly $1,200 a year for bundled service, that could mean a hefty increase to an already inflated price tag.”

Sabhlok says that the net neutrality conversation is an important one to have, but it should hardly be the core focus for the FCC right now. Instead, the commission should concentrate on addressing the fact that regional monopolies have created a market where consumers pay a ridiculous premium for sub par service.

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If you’ve been holding out for FiOS as an alternative to your current Internet provider, it might be time to start working on a new strategy. DSLReports has shared a quote from Verizon CFO Fran Shammo that appears to suggest that the dream of widespread FiOS expansion is dead.

“We’ll continue to fulfill our FiOS LFAs (franchise agreements) we will complete (the FiOS deployment) with about 19 million homes passed,” Shammo announced at the Jefferies 2014 Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference. “That will cover about 70 percent of our legacy footprint; 30 percent we’re not going to cover.”

Consumers have been understandably skeptical of a massive FiOS rollout as Verizon executives have continually skated around questions regarding the fiber optic service. With this latest statement, Shammo seems to have laid to rest any speculation that the company is still attempting to expand to any regions in which it does not already have an obligation to set up the network.

“We will continue to harvest that copper network and those customers and keep them as long as we can but we will not be building FiOS out to those areas,” Shammo continued, in reference to the 30% that would not be covered.

Unless you’re already in an area being covered by Verizon’s FiOS network, your last chance for gigabit speeds might be Google Fiber.

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After a recent string of incidents, Samsung has finally acknowledged the potentially dangerous working conditions at its factories and the tragedies that have befallen several of its workers over the years. Back in 2010, it was reported that more than 20 employees at Samsung’s chipmaking facilities had been diagnosed with forms of cancer during their time on the job, eventually resulting in the deaths of several of the afflicted. Yonhap News reports that Samsung officially apologized for the incidents this week, promising compensation for the families who have suffered losses in the past.

“Several workers at our production facilities suffered from leukemia and other incurable diseases, which also lead to some deaths,” said Samsung CEO Kwon Oh-hyun. “We should have settled the issue earlier, and we are deeply heartbroken that we failed to do so and express our deep apology.”

Samsung plans to work with a third party to ensure the families receive the attention they deserve.

The apology comes just a month after a dispute with family members of Samsung employees and their representation over how the company would handle talks explaining the deaths occurring at its facilities. Concern over long-term exposure to dangerous chemicals has reached a fever pitch in recent years after the story of Hwang Yu-mi, a worker who died from leukemia in 2007, hit the news and subsequently inspired a crowdfunded film.

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So you want to buy a smartphone and you’re putting a premium on camera quality? Then you really need to check out PhoneArena’s latest comprehensive test of smartphone cameras that includes big-name devices such as the iPhone 5s and the Galaxy S5 along with lesser-known devices such as Huawei’s recently released Ascend P7. What PhoneArena found was that the Galaxy S5, the Ascend P7 and Sony’s Xperia Z1 all took the best overall pictures, although the final scores for each smartphone only begin to tell the story of what makes a smartphone camera great.

Our one disappointment was that PhoneArena didn’t include Nokia’s Lumia 1020 in its report, since by all accounts it takes the best pictures of any smartphone the world has ever seen. Nonetheless, the photography showdown includes just about every other major smartphone on the market right now, including the HTC One (M8) and the LG G2.

One thing that’s particularly intriguing about PhoneArena’s study is that it found the Ascend P7 to have the best camera in a couple of key categories, including panoramic shots and overall color quality, but it didn’t fare as well as other cameras in low-light situations such as indoor shots or nighttime shots. The Galaxy S5′s camera, meanwhile, fared the best when it came to nighttime pictures and video quality and tied with the Ascend P7 for the best score in overall color quality.

HTC’s One M8 fared very poorly in the study as its camera ranked not only last overall but came in last in four of the six major categories that PhoneArena used to judge picture quality. This shouldn’t be too surprising because we found that the One (M8′s) camera was the worst thing about an otherwise outstanding smartphone, and it’s definitely something for HTC to keep in mind when it designs its next flagship phone.

PhoneArena’s full breakdown of smartphone cameras is well worth your time and can be found by clicking the source link below.

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