Android M is bringing extensive SD card support at a very ironic time

The lack of expandable storage on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge is among the few major gripes consumers have with Samsung’s latest flagships. But while Samsung only rejected microSD cards here in 2015, Google has always been against the notion of having expandable storage on its Nexus devices. Android has never properly supported external storage, with Google offering excuses like a confusing user interface and the slowness of microSD cards...

Samsung SM-G9198 with Snapdragon 808 appears on GFXBench

Samsung is the only major Android manufacturer that has chosen to ignore the Snapdragon 810 and opt for a different flagship chip (one it’s making all by its lonesome), thanks to the 810′s heating issues and the fact that the Korean giant’s Exynos chip is considerably superior. But Samsung has said that it chooses processors according to need and hasn’t given up on the Snapdragon lineup, and the company...

Android M could introduce Multi Window to Android later this year

Google officially announced Android M, the next major version of the world-dominating mobile OS, at Google I/O yesterday. While not being as big an update as Android 5.0 Lollipop, Android M will bring a lot of new features, such as native support for fingerprint sensors, Android Pay, better volume control, a new battery saving feature called Doze, and an iOS-like permissions management system for...

Samsung completes Lollipop rollout for Galaxy A lineup with the Galaxy A5

This week is turning out to be a good one for owners of Samsung’s full metal Galaxy A devices. The Galaxy A7 recently started receiving the Lollipop update, and it is now hitting the Galaxy A5. The Galaxy A3 was the first A series device to get the update, and today marks the day when it is available for all three in at least one region around the world. The Galaxy A5 update is rolling out in Poland, and it comes with build number A500FUXXU1BOE6. You...

Exclusive: Samsung Project Valley is a dual screen, possibly foldable, smartphone

The number of patents surrounding folding and dual screen smartphones that we have come across from Samsung would suggest that such devices would already be available in the market for consumers, but the reality is that such technologies take a long time in coming to the commercial arena from their prototype stages. But with the Galaxy S6 edge, Samsung has shown that it is ready to launch devices...

How to transfer content using Wi-Fi Direct on a Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 edge

Wi-Fi Direct support was introduced in Android way back in 2011 with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but to this day, Google hasn’t added a direct (pun intended) option for sending content using the protocol on stock Android, leaving it to third-party apps to make up for the OS’ shortcoming. Wi-Fi Direct is a technology that allows devices to connect to each other directly without the need for...

Themes Thursday: Ten new themes launched in the Samsung Theme Store today

Starting today, we will showcase new themes from the Samsung Theme Store on our website. We will do this once every week, and we call it Themes Thursday. This week, Samsung has released ten new themes in the Theme Store that are shown below. I personally liked three of them; Low Poly, Peperico Farmer, and Mexico. Which ones did you like? Let us and other readers know your choice in the comments section...

New Galaxy S6 variant (SM-G929F) imported to India for testing

We reported a few weeks back that Samsung has developed two new handsets with model numbers SM-G928S and SM-N920F, with the former being a new variant of the Galaxy S6 because the model number made it clear that it’s a derivative for an existing model rather than a completely new one. The list of model numbers for the SM-G928 that we received showed that this variant would at least be released...

05-27-2015 Firmware Updates: Galaxy A7, Galaxy Note 3 LTE, Galaxy S5, and more

Samsung has a plethora of phones and tablets in its lineup, and regularly releases firmware updates for various devices. These can include major updates, which bring a newer version of the OS to a particular device, or minor ones that improve performance and stability and fix bugs. Software updates for Samsung devices roll out in various regions every day, and you can find out which firmware updates were pushed out by the company over the last...

The USPTO awards design patents to Samsung for the Gear Fit and some new smartphone cases

Earlier today, we reported about a patent filing by Samsung that showcased some possible upcoming improvements to the Gear VR. Now, the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) has awarded a series of design patents to Samsung covering the Gear Fit and some new type of smartphone cases. The Gear Fit was originally announced back in February 2014, and was Samsung’s first fitness...

Samsung is bringing over a very useful iPhone camera feature to the Galaxy S6

Reviews of Apple’s iPhones are often quick to point out how its camera is the most consistent out there. Despite the low-resolution sensors, Apple has certainly made their cameras as good as possible on recent iPhones, allowing users to take great photos in pretty much every lighting condition without having to play with different settings. Samsung was able to match Apple in terms of camera...

A new Samsung Gear VR-related patent shows how it could be improved further

Samsung released the Gear VR for the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge a few weeks ago, but nothing new has been added in terms of hardware features. Oculus CEO John Carmack noted that the company is looking to use Samsung’s marketing might around the next major release of the Gear VR in September, but no details were spilled. Now, the USPTO has published some documents that provides a basic roadmap...

How to manage default applications on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

One of Android’s most useful features is the ability to set default apps for various functions, similar to a desktop operating system. Want to use a third-party app for things like messaging, image viewing, or browsing? You can do all that and more by simply selecting what app you would like to open for a particular task and replacing the default app that the device comes with permanently. With Android 4.4 KitKat, Google simplified the procedure...

eCelsius is an indigestible pill that tracks core temperature using Samsung’s health platform SAMI

Remember SAMI (Samsung Multimodal Architecture Interaction), Samsung’s health platform for cloud-sourced health tracking that was introduced about an year ago? Well, Samsung invited developers to take advantage of the platform, and one of the early adopters is Body Cap from France, who showed off a pill that monitors core body temperature using SAMI. The company’s new product dubbed ‘eCelcius’ is an ingestible pill that monitors body...

Samsung Galaxy A7 gets Android 5.0.2 Lollipop update in Russia

The Galaxy A3 was the first Galaxy A device to be updated to Lollipop, and Samsung is now putting the spotlight on the Galaxy A7. Android 5.0.2 is rolling out to the device over in Russia (Russia was the first market where the update was rolled out for the Galaxy A3 as well), with the build number A700FDXXU1BOE6, with the firmware available via Samsung Kies and through our firmware section. It’s likely to be rolling out over the air as well,...

Samsung working on the Galaxy J1 Pop (SM-J110)

The Galaxy J1 is far from the budget smartphone Samsung needs to be making for competing in the low-end market, but the company could soon be launching its successor. Our insiders have offered us information on what could launch as the Galaxy J1 Pop – we’re not sure if Pop is the codename or the final name of the device, but it will likely be the latter. We haven’t received any information on specs, but the phone will be launched worldwide, including...