The advent of the PreCheck program has made trips to the airport far less stressful, but how does the TSA keep the screening process secure and unpredictable? Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the TSA uses a “randomizer” app at around 100 airports to determine which passengers will go through the expedited screening process and which will go through standard screening.

After passing the initial risk assessment, passengers are asked to step on to an electronic mat which randomly assigns them to a line. Not only does this method speed up the process, it also prevents accusations of racial profiling on the part of the TSA agents. This is just one part of the “managed inclusion” risk-based security that ensures a greater degree of safety while simultaneously improving the airport experience.

“The whole premise of risk-based security is that the vast majority, if not everybody, traveling every day…are low risk, and so how can we differentiate between those people based on some prescreening, based on information that they share we already know about them such as certain government employees?” TSA Administrator John Pistole said.

As an added benefit, this electronic sorting method has allowed the TSA to cut its budget for 2015 by $100 million. Thanks to one app, the TSA can keep Americans safe and their wallets even safer.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: Security, Flights

Samsung’s 2014 flagship phone, the Galaxy S5, launched early last month. While the device didn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations of gadget bloggers who were expecting a beastly quad HD Android powerhouse thanks to months of inaccurate rumors, early signs suggest sales have been screaming so far. But Samsung executives might not be uncorking the champagne just yet — according to some industry watchers, there are signs that Samsung isn’t happy with how its new hero phone has been selling so far.

Writing at Forbes, Eric Mack noted there is some chatter on the Street that internally at Samsung, the company is not pleased with the early performance of its new Galaxy S5. The fact that Samsung’s lead designer was removed from his role so soon after the Galaxy S5 debuted certainly isn’t a good sign, and it’s one of a few indications that Galaxy S5 performance might not be where Samsung had hoped.

Also of note, Samsung announced the 10 million unit milestone for Galaxy S4 shipments 26 days after the phone was released last year. Friday marks the 28th day since Samsung’s Galaxy S5 launch and we have yet to hear any official word regarding S5 sell-in.

Of course, until Samsung shares official figures, we have no way of knowing exactly how well the Galaxy S5 is selling thus far.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: Business, Galaxy S5, Samsung

The absolute best thing about Nokia’s high-end smartphones in recent years has been their cameras. Not only are they head-and-shoulders above the competition in terms of megapixel count but also when it comes to camera software features that let you take clear, vibrant pictures in just about any setting. Now, however, it seems that the iPhone may be poised to steal some of the Lumia’s camera thunder.

Engadget reports that Apple has just hired former senior Nokia Lumia engineer Ari Partinen, whom Nokia has in the past described as its “own camera expert.”

One of Partinen’s biggest achievements during his time at Nokia was working on the PureView technology that the company debuted in 2012 and that has helped Nokia smartphone cameras deliver best-in-the-industry low-light photography, so it seems that future iPhone cameras stand to get a big boost when it comes to snapping pictures in the dark.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: mobile, Apple

Congratulations on buying your shiny new Galaxy S5 — now you may be interested in learning how to make it live up to its full potential. Thankfully, Droid Life has put together a truly terrific list of 10 ways you can make the Galaxy S5 even better and it includes some terrific tips for everything from improving the device’s typing functionality to reducing the load of Samsung’s ever-present bloatware.

The entire guide is worth reading on its own, but some of the highlights that jumped out at us detailed how you can vastly improve the Galaxy S5′s keyboard by downloading a third-party app such as Swiftkey; how to shut off the bloatware that both Samsung and mobile carriers have installed onto your device; how to use Toolbox, one of the Samsung preloaded apps that you’ll actually want to use; how to make animations on the device less laggy by adjusting the settings; and how to increase that Galaxy S5′s touch sensitivity so it will work better even if it’s raining outside.

Droid Life has always been very good at taking a deep look at every little new cool feature you can find in new Android phones and we were also recently impressed by their video showing off all of the best features of the HTC One (M8).

You can find Droid Life’s full guide to essential Galaxy S5 tips and tricks by clicking the source link below.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: mobile, Galaxy S5, Samsung

No matter how well received the OnePlus One has been so far, the company appears to be somewhat struggling to make enough units for all interested buyers, and the invite system that is currently the only way to score a handset isn’t exactly that appealing. The company is apparently aware of the confusion created and has further clarified the process by answering a series of questions buyers keep asking.

To get an invites, users will have to wait for contests and raffles at first. After that, the people who actually buy the device will be able to invite friends to purchase their own phones.

“The first real batch of invites roll out late May, and will be of the 64GB Sandstone Black version,” the company wrote, explaining when the first invites will be available. “Any invites that you might have been promised before this, will be sent during this time.”

Customers who receive an invite from a OnePlus One owner will have 24 hours to act, and purchase their handset. Once the period expires the invite is returned to the sender. The invites that users can give away to others will be valid for longer, usually for one or two weeks, after which time they will expire if not used.

The company said that at first invites quantities will be smaller, but the number will increase as time goes by and production ramps up. “You will frequently receive new invites to give away as production ramps up,” the company said, adding that initially, the phone’s purchase will not come with bundled invites to give away. Instead, invites will be rolled out later on.

A good tip to stay informed on the invite system is to follow the OnePlus forum and social channels for the first raffles and contests. The first 100 OnePlus One units will be given away to lucky customers that are ready to smash their devices, or donate them.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: mobile, OnePlus One

When big news breaks, taking the contrarian viewpoint is an instant traffic magnet. And when it comes to Apple’s rumored upcoming acquisition of Beats Electronics, the contrarian viewpoint is beyond obvious — not a single respected industry watcher seems to be able to make any sense of the deal at all. Beats’ headphone lineup obviously has value and its steaming music product also obviously has value to Apple, but is the Beats brand really a good fit in Cupertino? Is Apple really going to manage another brand for the first time ever? Is Beats really so important to the future of Apple that it warrants becoming the company’s biggest ever acquisition at $3.2 billion?

Most people seem to be answering “no” to all of those questions, but Wired says Apple’s Beats buy isn’t just a good idea, it’s Apple’s “best idea since the iPad.”

“Apple is finally growing up,” Wired begins. “For years, guided by Steve Jobs’ firm hand and relentless vision, the company minted breakthrough after breakthrough. When gadgets appeared from behind Apple’s tightly guarded walls, they were so fully realized, it was hard to remember what life was like without them. But now that Jobs is gone, things have changed. Going years without introducing something radically new, Apple’s famously insular culture has started to look parochial.”

Without spoiling too much of this gem, Wired’s position is basically that Apple is no longer cool, Beats is cool, and Apple is brilliant because it’s looking for outside help and buying cool.

Eesh.

The full story is linked below in our source section.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: Business, Apple, beats

A mobile phone company became the leading brand in the world with shocking speed, electrified by the leadership of a charismatic, ruthless CEO. After that CEO stepped down, the company still continued going strong, dominating smartphone sales and refining its products. But the new CEO lacked true vision and revenue growth started showing worrisome signs of stalling. Pressured by Wall Street, the gray and cautious new CEO suddenly made the dramatic decision of spending billions of dollars to acquire a hot new company, breaking the giant’s tradition of avoiding major acquisitions. This new acquisition happened after a long rise on the Nasdaq, and the company ended up paying a stiff premium.

That mobile phone company was Nokia, of course.

Not Nokia the laughing stock, but the rampant Nokia of 2007. The behemoth that held more than 60% of the global smartphone market and delivered stunning 22% operating margins in its handset unit. Yet despite its awesome profitability and market share dominance in 2007, the rot was already setting in. Nokia’s $8 billion acquisition of Navteq in the autumn of 2007 was the grand folly that marked the start of a long and painful decline.

Almost nobody realized it in the autumn of 2007. Nokia’s brand strength was so remarkable, its distribution power and profitability so unassailable. Nobody rings the bell at the top. It took literally years before most highly paid Wall Street professionals realized that Nokia was sailing merrily off the map, into the deep blue oblivion.

Apple’s rumored upcoming $3 billion acquisition of Beats is not as insane as Nokia’s Navteq purchase was. But some similarities are striking. Neither company had any history of major acquisitions before the big plunge. Corporations that grow organically often do not have the skills to absorb and utilize substantial new purchases.

In both cases, there is a whiff of panic.

Nokia saw the iPhone suddenly arriving at AT&T and causing a media sensation. Nokia knew it did not have a mobile operating system that could handle touch screen functionality gracefully. Instead of addressing this key problem, Nokia pivoted and decided to go big on navigation software.

Apple knows it may not have any way of bringing back revenue growth in its tablet division, besieged by budget vendors. The company is staring at long-term smartphone market share losses and low, if not nil sales growth. Apple understands that iTunes is a mess and consumers are fascinated by streaming sensations like Spotify and Pandora.

Instead of fixing iTunes or addressing its tablet crisis directly, Apple is apparently taking the Nokia road. Buying Beats and hoping it will divert attention from its core challenges.

Of course, literally nobody at Apple can entertain the notion that the company in any way resembles Nokia. Just like the proud yet suddenly insecure Nokia of 2007 was completely unable to assess its own situation realistically. The sheer power trip of becoming the world’s top phone vendor corrupts and destroys the critical faculties of all companies that sip from the poisoned chalice — Motorola, Ericsson (for one heady quarter in 1997), Nokia… and perhaps the biggest one of them all.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: Business, Apple, beats, Nokia