Gear VR Innovator Edition for the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge now available online

Late last year Samsung introduced the Gear VR, a relatively affordable virtual reality headset that uses select devices from the company to provide users with an immersive experience. When the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge were unveiled back in March, Samsung also announced the revamped Gear VR Innovator Edition for its new flagship handsets. After opening up pre-orders last month Samsung is now selling the headset online in the United States directly and through Best Buy.

The Gear VR Innovator Edition for Galaxy S6 and S6 edge uses the brilliant display on the new handsets to provide a much more improved virtual reality experience, aided by the reduced size, redesigned straps and improved airflow courtesy of a built-in fan. Users will find the headset more comfortable to wear than ever before because of these improvements. Those who are interested and are based in the United States can now purchase one directly from Samsung and Best Buy for $199.99. The headset will become available in-store on May 15th.

 

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Research firm finds that Samsung is losing ground in China and India

The latest figures from research firm Counterpoint reveal that Samsung is losing ground in both China and India, which have emerged as two of the most lucrative smartphone markets in the world. Samsung has fought hard to play down the notion that it’s coming under pressure particularly in India from local manufacturers but clearly they’re eating away at the Korean company’s market share. Counterpoint’s latest report shows that Samsung’s market share in China and India during the first quarter of 2015 declined by 9.9 percent and 5.5 percent each, respectively as compared to the same time last year.

The report finds that Samsung’s market share in India has decreased from 33.3 percent in Q1 2014 to 27.8 percent in Q1 2015, but even after the decline it retains its lead in the market. On the other hand local manufacturers in the country saw their market share increase from 2.9 percent to 9.4 percent during the same period. In Q1 2014 Samsung had the top spot in China with 18.5 percent of the market but according to Counterpoint’s report Samsung was relegated to fourth with just 8.6 percent of the market in Q1 2015. Apple sailed to the top on the back of strong iPhone sales with Xiaomi and Huawei following close behind.
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Sprint rolls out Android 5.0 for the Galaxy S4

The Galaxy S4 came out nearly two years ago and even though it was a evolutionary update of the Galaxy S3 it still ended up performing quite well in the market. So it goes without saying that many users on Sprint, which is the third largest mobile carrier in the United States, have been waiting on the carrier to release the Lollipop update. Today it has. Sprint has now started rolling out the Android 5.0 update to both the regular Galaxy S4 and its Sprint Spark variant.

Many of you would remember that Sprint did release the Lollipop update for the Galaxy S4 Spark variant late last month but it appears that the carrier pulled the update soon after due to some issues. Sprint has now refreshed the support pages for both devices to reflect that the update is indeed rolling out, Galaxy S4 owners are getting software version L720VPUGOD2 while the Spark variant owners get L720TVPUCOD2 which not only bumps up the OS version to 5.0 Lollipop but also adds the Factory Reset Protection feature.

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Galaxy Note 2 Lollipop update will apparently be released only in select markets

There is a lot of confusion regarding the status of the Galaxy Note 2 Lollipop update, several of Samsung’s regional arms have confirmed that the handset is going to receive this update while others say that it won’t. Earlier this week we saw similar conflicting reports from Samsung Gulf and Samsung Spain, with the former claiming the Galaxy Note 2 won’t get Lollipop and the latter saying that it most certainly will. We have already reported exclusively that no Lollipop builds for the Galaxy Note 2 have appeared on Samsung’s servers which suggests that the company may never release this update for said device.

Samsung Danmark will have you believe on the contrary, the company’s official Twitter account for the country has said that the availability of this update will depend upon each market but also confirmed that Danish Galaxy Note 2 units (CSC code: NEE) will get the Lollipop update. The account doesn’t reveal though precisely when this update will arrive, if it does arrive at all. Folks in that market now have an incentive to keep their fingers crossed, others just might have to continue dealing with the confusion since Samsung has not confirmed the markets that will receive Lollipop for Galaxy Note 2 and those that will not.

@Kamil_Sabry Hi! Each market has their own updates so it can vary from market to market. Danish Note 2s (CSC code: NEE) will get Lollipop.

— Samsung Danmark (@SamsungDK) May 8, 2015

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Samsung Galaxy S6 edge has this strange 8-bit color display issue

The Galaxy S6 edge is an amazing device, and it’s the only Samsung smartphone that has impressed me so much other than a Galaxy Note. The design is exquisite, the software is finally as fast and good-looking as it should be in this day and age, and the camera can take some amazing pictures in pretty much all lighting conditions.

But that dual curved display means the S6 edge is more of an experiment than something mainstream, and it also means that the phone is expected to be more prone to hardware issues than the standard Galaxy S6. The viewing experience on the S6 edge is rather phenomenal, but in the last two weeks my phone has exhibited an issue where the display enters into an 8-bit color mode of sorts.

Basically, everything on the screen starts looking like a watercolor painting. It has only happened twice in around two weeks, and I’m not sure if it’s something that has affected other users’ devices as well. Fixing the issue is only possible with a reboot, though even when the color on the screen goes bad, the phone continues to operate normally otherwise. I haven’t really found a reason for why this happens, and as a result I haven’t been able to capture it in pictures. Considering a reboot fixes it, it’s possible the issue is a software one instead of hardware, especially since I’ve never dropped my S6 edge or treated it carelessly.

We’ve reached out to Samsung for information on the matter, and we will be sure to share anything we learn. Has this happened on your Galaxy S6 edge, or maybe even the standard Galaxy S6? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure you contact your local Samsung support if you come across any mysterious behavior on your device.

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Korean consumer gets a Galaxy S6 with swollen battery

The launch of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge wasn’t completely smooth, with many users complaining about out-of-the-box defects – mostly with the display – when the phone was released. We’ve seen a few pictures showing off these defects, and now a South Korean consumer has released pictures that show a Galaxy S6 with a swollen battery.

Apparently, the phone came with a big gap between its frame and the glass on the back, and a slightly smaller gap on the front as well. Unsurprisingly, the phone didn’t turn on at all, and Samsung was quick to offer the user a replacement. There haven’t been any reports of a similar thing happening to others, so it’s likely this is a one-off case that the company will hopefully make sure won’t happen again, considering how dangerous swollen/damaged batteries can be.

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Galaxy S6 getting minor software update, said to fix RAM issues

Samsung has started rolling out a minor software update to the Galaxy S6, with users reporting that it fixes the memory management issue that has been plaguing both the Galaxy S6 devices. Sporting build number G920FXXU1AODG, the update is around 138MB in size and is available in Italy (on the Vodafone network) at the moment – according to GSMArena, the phone has improved performance after the update, suggesting the issue has actually been fixed.

If you’re wondering how the improved performance is an indicator, then you should know that since the S6 was killing apps too aggressively, the phone was getting slower as many apps would have to reload when the user would go back for it. This would include things like the keyboard app as well – the keyboard sometimes take an extra second or so to show up, a lag that wouldn’t be present if the keyboard app’s process was being kept in memory continuously, as it is supposed to be.

Anyway, whether the update really fixes the problem for good remains to be seen, but it’s good to see Samsung has moved quickly to improve the experience on its latest flagships. Hopefully the Galaxy S6 edge will also receive the sooner rather than later. Let us know if you have received the OTA on your Galaxy S6, and do keep in mind that you can grab the firmware from our firmware section to manually update instead of waiting for the OTA to show up.

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