Articles by "samsung"
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Parks Associates's latest report on the sate of the US mobile market reveals a few interesting facts. Perhaps most intriguing is the reduced gap between the two titans in the realm - Apple and Samsung. The former currently controls 40% of the local mobile market, but the Korean giant is quickly catching up with 31%.
Samsung's US expansion is definitely impressive, but other foreign OEM's are exhibiting the same trend, although on a much smaller scale. Third place on the list goes to LG, with 10% market share and other major brand names, like Motorola and HTC have about 5% reach, combined.
On a global scale, Samsung still led the race in 2015, with a total of 324.8 million units shipped, leaving Cupertino at second place with about 231.5 million sales.
Another interesting trend, unearthed in the Parks Associates's research concerns smartphone upgrade cycles. The numbers show that about a third of iOS users still own a handset that is more than two years old, while only 30% of Samsung users are on a device as dated. This could be interpreted as a testament to the futureproofing of Apple handsets, but it might also have to do with carrier efforts to shorten hardware upgrade cycles as much as possible and encourage more frequent sales.
Operators are pulling out all the tricks to encourage phone upgrades... The once-familiar two-year contract, which tied consumers to a two-year phone upgrade cycle, is gradually fading. U.S. carriers started to do away with two-year contracts in 2012, and by the third quarter of 2015, only 51% of mobile consumers had a contract, down from almost 70% at the end 2011.


A few other curious statistic from the report state that:
  • More than 70% of smartphone users now watch short streaming video clips, and more than 40% watch long streaming videos on their device.
  • Almost 40% of smartphone users use the voice recognition function; among iPhone users, more than half have used Siri.
  • 36% use Wi-Fi calling
  • 35% stream music from the phone to speakers
  • 26% use a payment app for purchases at a retail location
  • 24% stream video from the phone to a second screen (e.g., TV, PC, etc.)
Source | Via
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Either a genuine mistake, or part of the pre-launch teasing process (our money is on the latter), a Samsung website now lists the Galaxy S7 Edge in a table detailing the different uses of the curved screen. Keeping the Galaxy S6 edge and S6 edge+ company, the yet-to-be-released model (announcement confirmed for February 21) will be able to do the exact same stuff as its older brethren.
With the screen on, the trio can display either the narrow type strips available since the S6 edge's inception, or the wide one-third of the screen type introduced with the Marshmallow update. With the screen off it's the usual clock and notifications feed.
And if we were hoping to get something else out of the slip-up, like the name for example, tough luck - it's a bit of a naming mess. The existing Galaxy S6 edge is officially spelled with a small 'e', and the S6 edge+ formally gets a symbol instead of a 'Plus'. So that remains to be settled, for those that care.
Source | Via
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In an interesting turn of events Samsung might be taking a step back from the megapixel race and equip the Galaxy S7 with a 12MP primary camera. The flipside is that the sensor will have a rather large by phone standards 1/2" size, if the rumor turns out to be true, that is.
Previously rumored to come with a 20MP ISOCELL sensor, next year's flagship has also been mentioned in the same sentence with Sony's custom 23-24.8MP imager used in the Xperia Z5 generation. If this new bit of info checks out, however, the S7 might shift its focus towards low-light performance thanks to what has been dubbed dual-PD (dual-photodiode) technology, and obviously larger individual photosites.
The Nexus 5X and 6P both employ Sony's IMX377 sensor, which is 1/2.3" in diagonal and has 1.55 micron pixels, the largest on a contemporary flagship phone. Samsung's new top-tier device will then improve on that number, though the difference between 1/2.3" and 1/2.0" isn't as great as to be called a jump. We're talking single-digit percentages here and a sensor diagonal of 7.75mm vs. 8.00mm.
Moving away from the dry figures, the source says that the new sensor is set to enter mass production any day now to be able to make it to the Galaxy S7, rumored to be released as early as January. You can tell by now that none of this is backed by tangible evidence, so make sure to contain your excitement.
Source | Via
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Tech giant Samsung has been leading several industries including phones, tablets, home appliances, and TVs with no sign of slowing down, until now.
An article released by the popular Korean news outlet Asiae reports Samsung is going to suspend its camera division by moving employees around to its medical, optical, and smartphone departments. Perhaps this is for research and development to improve imaging for these industries. It is not known if Samsung plans to relaunch a digital camera division in the future or if it will do away with it altogether.
It seems that this will only affect the mirrorless cameras (non-DSLRs), since the translated article mentions the words "mirrorless" and "NX500" throughout. Neither of which would suggest DSLR cameras are included (Although, DSLRs tend to have much longer life-cycles). Also, the website samsungcamera.com, which hasn't been updated for months, seems to only feature mirrorless cameras.
The same article also mentions "...to the growth of smartphone cameras, as well as high-end digital cameras." suggesting plans to improve DSLR image sensors as well.
There's a chance that Samusng is taking a year or two off of the digital camera space to regroup, review, and relaunch its product and marketing to better compete with Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Kodak for the digital camera space. Yet staging a comeback with zero market share will be pretty tough so if Samsung is to close the division it will likely be for good.
Via | Source
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Back in March this year, a Samsung official revealed that the company is working on a foldable phone internally codenamed Project Valley. Just last month, there were reports revealing some specs of the device - it was also revealed that the phone will be ready for unveiling in January 2016.
Now, a new report has revealed the list of markets where the handset will be launched. As per the report, the Project Valley phone will be available in the UK, Germany, Italy, Nordic countries, France, Poland, as well as Samsung's home country of South Korea. It was also revealed that the phone will carry a model number of SM-G929F.
The above list indicates that those living in the US are currently out of luck, although the possibility of Samsung expanding the phone's availability later on cannot be ruled out, the report notes.
Via
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The ginormous tablet that Samsung teased back at IFA 2015 is now official. The Samsung Galaxy View touts a large 18.4" TFT LCD display of 1080p resolution resulting in a pixel density of 123ppi.
The Galaxy View comes with a handle for an easy carry, as it weighs 2.65kg and measures 275.8 x 451.8 x 11.9mm. Rubber feet at the bottom keep it from sliding about and the back features a 2-way stand. Samsung says the tablet's 5700mAh can provide up to 8 hours of continuous video playback, although it's pretty clear you won't be going away from a power socket often. You'll be further enjoying the video content with a dual 4W stereo speaker setup.
Powering the Galaxy View is an 1.6GHz octa-core CPU and 2GB of RAM, part of the Samsung Exynos 7580 chipset. Internal storage is either 32GB or 64GB and is expandable via the microSD card slot on board. Above the display, there's a 2.1MP camera for video conferencing. The connectivity suite includes Bluetooth 4.1 BLE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac and an LTE model with a nano-SIM slot.
The company is shipping the tablet with a Media UX skin on top of Android 5.1 Lollipop and is placing a strong accent on video watching.
Samsung hasn't officially revealed pricing and availability information. However, a prematurely online listing from US store Adorama (cached) reveals the Galaxy View US price of $599.
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At its IFA 2015 press event, Samsung emphasized the customization options of the Gear S2 and the plethora of designers and partners it has to pull it off. The collaborations include companies like Case-Mate, Casetify, Chow Tai Fook, Incipio, iTFit and SLG Design (also known as TheSom) and now Samsung is showing off what they have done for the Gear S2.
Starting with Case-Mate, which will offer leather bands for the Gear S2 and Gear S2 classic. Then, there are the more colorful Casetify straps in five distinctive designs (Dark Marble, Woodland Camouflage, Coral Tribal, Diamond, White Marble). They're made of sweat-resistant thermoplastic polyurethane (try saying that three times fast).

Case-Mate bands • Casetify straps
Chow Tai Fook bands will be sold in China and Hong Kong and are quite luxurious with diamond accents and 18k gold. iTFit will offers several straps made from NATO materials, which feature woven cloth and are hypoallergenic. Finally, SLG Design and Incipio will also offer straps, some of which look quite cool for our taste.

Chow Tai Fook • iTFit • SLG Design
This all goes to show the lengths to which Samsung has gone to offer unmatched personalization for its Gear S2 and Gear S2 classic smartwatches. It'll be interesting to see how much these niceties will cost, but we doubt any of them will beat an Apple Watch Edition with an Hermes leather band.
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A few months ago Samsung launched the Galaxy S6 edge Iron Man limited edition in partnership with Marvel, and it was pretty exciting for fans of that particular superhero. The Iron Man edition had a special look, with red front and back and a gold metal frame. There was also a bundled wireless charger that was arc reactor-themed, as well as a custom theme on the phone and an Avengers box.
Most of those things are not to be found on the new Galaxy S6 edge+ Ant-Man limited edition that launched in China today. In fact, the only things that are different here than with the vanilla S6 edge+ are the box, a protective case that is bundled with the phone, and possibly a custom Ant-Man theme on the handset.
The case is a nice touch, but going with a custom color scheme for the phone itself, like with the Iron Man edition of the smaller S6 edge, would have been welcome (not to mention a custom designed wireless charger). The box and the case both have the Ant-Man vibe, of course.
If you're in China and are interested in this limited edition phone, know you'll need to pay CNY 5,888 to get one, which is around $925 or €848 at the current exchange rates. Not cheap, then.
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Ever since it was teased by the Korean company at the beginning of September, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy View tablet has had information about it leaked here and there. It got Bluetooth certified, then was spotted at the FCC, and through a benchmark run we found out all of its specs.
However, up until now the only image we had to go on was the one in the aforementioned official Samsung teaser, which isn't extremely useful. Thankfully though, today six new pictures have been leaked showing the Galaxy View from all angles.
Samsung Galaxy View
These seem to be taken from a promotional video that Samsung is readying for the huge 18.4-inch tablet. This could mean that we're finally close to the device's unveiling, but nothing's certain.
As you can see, the Galaxy View will feature a dock or stand that folds to keep the tablet upright, and this dock interestingly has a handle to make carrying around the 18.4-inch behemoth that much easier. The shots also show the 2 MP front-facing camera on the Galaxy View.
Samsung Galaxy View
And unlike any other recent Samsung tablet, the Galaxy View will not have the trademark physical Home button flanked by capacitive Back and Recents buttons. This may have something to do with how practical it would be to press a physical button on a device so big - either way, on-screen Android buttons will make an appearance.
The Samsung Galaxy View will have a 1080p touchscreen, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and it's going to be powered by a Samsung Exynos 7 Octa chipset, coming with an octa-core CPU with four Cortex-A57 cores and four Cortex-A53 ones. The tablet will probably launch running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.
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Samsung has announced that all major carriers in the United States, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon, now support its mobile payments service Samsung Pay, which was launched in the country on September 28.
"Starting today, October 21, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5 users on the major U.S. wireless networks will be able to download and install the Samsung Pay application directly from Google Play," the South Korean company said.
Samsung specifically mentioned that those on Verizon, which recently jumped on the bandwagon, with devices that need to be updated to work with the service will be automatically prompted for the update when they install the Samsung Pay app.
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Yesterday we heard that Samsung is planning on announcing the Galaxy S7 in January, at least a month earlier than the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. And today some more details about the next Samsung flagship have seemingly emerged, thanks to a couple of new rumors.
As always with such things, don't forget to take everything you're about to read with a grain of salt. Ready? Here goes. The S7 will allegedly be made from a magnesium alloy, at least its frame will. Samsung could be keeping the glass back that debuted with the S6 this year. The new alloy will apparently make it sturdier while also giving it an even more premium feel, which is not something we expect anyone to complain about.
Moving on, the Galaxy S7 is said to also come with the Sabre 9018AQ2M audio chip by ESS Technology, which will turn the phone into a Hi-Fi powerhouse, with superior audio quality. The chip in question reportedly features 129 dB signal-to-noise ratio, and it supports PCM up to 32-bit and 384 KHz, as well as DSD 11.2 MHz sampling. Its overall power consumption is very small, with only 1mW needed in standby and less than 40mW at all times.
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A new Galaxy model - SM-W2016 - was spotted within the GFX database. It is powered by the high-end Exynos 7 Octa chipset with an octa-core processor, Mali-T760MP8 GPU and 3GB of RAM. The internal storage of the W2016 is 64GB and its camera duo is identical with the Galaxy S6 lineup - a 16MP 16:9 main camera and a 5MP front snapper.
Note that the benchmark suggests the screen is a 4.6" HD one, but we've seen benchmarks get this wrong quite a few times in the past. The most fresh example is indeed the G9198 model, which leaked in GFXBench with the same 4.6" HD display, but turned out differently.
The new model was also spotted recently inside the Zauba listings - it was imported in India for testing on October 6. The listed price is INR 26,725, which translates in roughly €360 before taxes (or about €420 if it were to sell in Europe).
Since the W2016 Galaxy was imported in India, there is a good chance it isn't another phone meant for Korea.
Unfortunately we have to dismantle the theories about the W2016 being the Galaxy S6 mini. The SM-W2014 is the Korean model number for the original Galaxy Golden flip smartphone, released in Asia over a year ago. The SM-W2015 Galaxy Golden 2 leaked a year ago via TENAA, but we never heard about it again. And now it seems the SM-W2016 is the Galaxy Golden 3 flip smartphone.
Apparently Samsung created another niche device, but this time around it features flagship specs. The two display are most probably of the Super AMOLED kind.
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According to a new report out of Samsung's home country of South Korea, the Galaxy S7 will be unveiled in January. Since the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge made their debut on March 1 this year, that means the S7 is going to be announced at least one full month early. This apparently has to do with the competition that Samsung is feeling in the high-end space, especially from Apple and its new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
The rumor goes on to say there will be a premium and a sub-premium version of the Galaxy S7, and that the designs have been finalized already in September. The premium model's Exynos chipset will reportedly house the processor and the modem on a single chip, while in the sub-premium handset they will be on different dies. The former SoC might be the Exynos M1 we've seen benchmarked recently, but that's not 100% certain - especially as past mumblings had it ready for production only in the second half of next year.
Other previously leaked information talked about there actually being three different chipset variations employed by the Galaxy S7. The phone might also come with 3D Touch-like features, as well as a USB Type-C port.
Source (in Korean) | Via
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Ever since Apple launched the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus with 3D Touch, a lot of the talk in the mobile world has been focused on this feature. Alternatively called Force Touch in Apple's MacBooks, it lets different pressure levels applied to a touchscreen (or trackpad) correspond to different software actions. We've recently heard that Synaptics is working on brining just such a feature to Android, and that Samsung could be using that solution itself for the Galaxy S7.
Now though a patent application that's just been made public by the Korean Intellectual Property Office reveals that Samsung has at least been considering such an idea since April 2014. That's when this filing was registered, and it basically describes a way to have different software outcomes depending on how hard a user is pressing down the screen.
The pressure is measured through the corresponding voltage. So up until a certain threshold, if you touch the "a" key on the software keyboard, you'll get the lowercase letter, while if you press harder on the same key you'll see the uppercase "A" pop up. Another example has one key act as a space bar if it's pressed lightly, or Tab if it's pressed more vigorously. Copying text could be just a matter of pressing hard on the "c" key on the keyboard too, Samsung thinks.
What's unclear is whether Samsung's gone past the theoretical realm and actually worked on developing its own Force Touch solution since this patent application has been filed. Yet even if it hasn't, it can undoubtedly make use of Synaptics' implementation if it really wants something like this to be inside the Galaxy S7.
Source (PDF) | Via (in Dutch)
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There's a healthy demand for the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch in its home South Korea, it would appear, judging by the rate at which pre-orders accumulated. Scheduled to be made available in the country on October 2, the wearable was briefly listed on Samsung's local site, now sold out.
The limited batch of 1,000 units of the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic was gone in two hours. Korean analysts note that the market reception is as warm as those enjoyed by the original Gear S and the Apple Watch.
Meanwhile, industry sources have stated that the smartwatch will come with 16 to 18 apps on board, no less than a dozen of which you won't be able to remove. Running Tizen OS, the Gear S2 (Classic or not) won't let you get of rid of obvious basics like Messages, Calls, Email, Gallery and S-Health.
Buddy is one the other apps you'll be getting, which will be a permanent fixture on the Gear S2, and it's a sort of auto favorite contacts. Looking for My Device (a shorter, more watch-friendly name may be in order, perhaps) may be genuinely useful for locating connected smartphones behind the couch, while Syrup Wallet is a simple payment solution for membership-based services.
Source | Via
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Most of the recent waterproof Xperia smartphones and tablets come with the IP68-rating. This 6 translates into a dust-tight device, while the second digit - the 8 - means submersion into deeper than 1 meter clean water for 30 minutes or more.
Before the Sony Xperia Z5 lineup, many of the Xperia phones were advertised with press photos showing taking selfies or group photos underwater with fully submerged devices. Those images indirectly suggested you can actually do those things.
But we know Sony has been reluctant to repair devices with liquid damage. In many cases the company said the damage resulted by some of the plastic caps not being tightly closed and thus the warranty didn't apply.
It turned out supporting waterproof phones is a tricky business and Sony has finally taken care of the problem by altering warranty terms and conditions.
As of recently Sony does not allow full submersion underwater, no matter the kind of water. It says NOT to use any waterproof device for underwater actions, such as taking photos.
Here are some excerpts of the new waterproof conditions:
  • The IP rating of your device was achieved in laboratory conditions in standby mode, so you should not use the device underwater, such as taking pictures. Do not use the device to take photos while performing any type of activity underwater, including diving or snorkeling.
  • Taking photos and movies in wet surroundings. Remember not to use the device underwater. If you accidentally get the device wet with non-fresh water, wash the device with tap water.
  • Sony devices that are tested for their waterproof abilities are placed gently inside a container filled with tap water and lowered to a depth of 1.5 metres. After 30 minutes in the container, the device is gently taken out and its functions and features are tested.
The rest remains the same - close all covers, if you drop your phone/slate into a pool/salt water rinse it under tap water, and that speakers and mics can stop working for up to 3 hours after water exposure.
Reading further Sony still allows you to use your phone under rain, the shower or in pools where splashes of water are all around. Just not fully submerge it. And in case you do, it will most probably endure.


While some people may have been overly abusive with their waterproof phones, perhaps Sony should take a large part of the blame as it made the IP rating a key selling point for its devices. Now that it has changed its policy many will certainly be disappointed, but it's better to be clear with customers about what they are getting rather than facing issues with after-sales support.
For more information you should definitely visit Sony's support page. And do drop us a line in the comments section, saying whether you'd still be getting a Sony phone if it weren't for all the water fun promises.
Sony | Via
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We've seen a lot of leaks originating in the databases of the various Android benchmarks lately, and this one's no exception. What's a bit different than usual is that in this case we aren't sure what device this is going to be.
Rumor has it we're looking at the GeekBench hardware information section for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A9. That said, the benchmark itself is calling the phone "samsung msm8976fhdlte-eur-open" for now.
This lets us know that the device is rocking Qualcomm's Snapdragon 620 chipset at the helm. This is an SoC that will come with an octa-core CPU, pairing four high-performance Cortex-A72 cores with four battery-friendly Cortex-A53 ones. The former cluster can be clocked at up to 1.8 GHz, with the latter going up only to 1.4 GHz. The Adreno 510 GPU is in tow too.
The prototype that ran GeekBench was capped at 1.4 GHz, as you can see from the screenshot above. So its results are clearly not indicative of real world performance. The benchmark has also revealed that this smartphone, possibly the Galaxy A9, will have 3GB of RAM and currently runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.
If this is the A9, then expect it to also feature 4G LTE connectivity, with peak download speeds of 300Mbps and 100Mbps uploads, thanks to the built-in Qualcomm modem.
Source | Via
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We've already heard quite a few things about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Mega On. It seems like it will be part of a new O-series of smartphones from the Korean maker, along with the Grand On. These are supposed to be the two models that will debut the new line.
They've already entered India for testing purposes, and last month we've even heard a rumor detailing their specs. Now someone decided to put the Mega On through the paces of the GeekBench benchmark for Android, and this has helpfully confirmed a couple of its specs.
The Galaxy Mega On that was tested has the model number SM-G6000, and it runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop at the moment. It's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 410 SoC, just as previously leaked, but the RAM amount seems to only be 1GB. This is contrary to the 1.5GB that was rumored so far.
Other specs aren't part of the benchmark's hardware information section, but going by past leaks the Mega On should sport a 5.5-inch 720p touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front shooter, 8GB of expandable storage, and a 3,000 mAh battery.
Source (in Hungarian)
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Tizen found some success with the Z1, now the successor, Samsung Z3, is nearing launch. The project is reportedly overseen personally by the Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics and passed through the FCC yesterday.
Of course, the US is probably not the primary target of the Z3. A few months ago the scuttlebutt was that Bangladesh, Nepal and India (where the phone was imported for testing) will be the initial stomping grounds of the Tizen-powered smartphone.
A week from now the Tizen Developer Conference kicks off in Shenzhen and it's expected that the Samsung Z3 will there. It's possible that it will launch alongside the Tizen-powered Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch.

Those two should bring a new major version of Tizen (v3.0). Other than that, the Samsung Z3 is epxcted to have a 5" 720p screen, Snapdragon 410 chipset with 1GB of RAM (1.5GB maybe) and 8GB of storage, 8MP + 5MP cameras (or 5MP + 2MP, not certain).
Source | Via

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Just yesterday we saw an unknown Samsung device getting benchmarked sporting an Exynos 8890 chipset. The device in question was codenamed Lucky. According to a new report, this is in fact the codename for the Galaxy S7. Since 7 is considered a lucky number in many cultures, it's pretty obvious why Samsung chose to name its next flagship "Project Lucky" while it's in development.
In an interesting twist, the Lucky was caught in another benchmark database today, this time rocking Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 SoC. This is no surprise, as there have been rumors claiming Samsung is testing Qualcomm's next top of the line chip and hasn't yet decided whether to use it or not. Now it seems likely that the S820 will power at least certain versions of the Galaxy S7, probably the ones destined for the US (echoing what's been going on for most of the Galaxy S line's existence, except with the S6 this year).
The prototype that went through the AnTuTu benchmark today came with a 5.7-inch QHD touchscreen, a 16 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front snapper, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage. It ran Android 5.1.1 Lollipop at the time.
So this is the bigger of the two rumored iterations for Samsung's next flagship. Qualcomm's chipset managed to beat out the Exynos 7420 as well as the Snapdragon 810 in single-threaded runs and in the 3D test. However, overall the Exynos 7420 still managed to come out on top of both of Qualcomm's contenders. Obviously though the Snapdragon 820 is still in development, so don't take these results too seriously yet. Just for fun, let's mention that Lucky's AnTuTu score was 65,775.
The final version of the Galaxy S7 may have a 20 MP ISOCELL camera instead of the 16 MP unit the prototype boasts. The S7 should keep the ultrafast UFS 2.0 storage of its predecessor, but Samsung is working on getting that to work with microSD cards. Currently the UFS 2.0 memory controller isn't compatible with expandable storage. Yet the Korean company might fix that by the time the S7 arrives on the market. It's definitely not a given, though, so don't get your hopes up that the Galaxy S7 will have microSD card support.
Source 1 (in Chinese) • Source 2 | Via

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