The Galaxy Note 5 is the most complete Samsung Galaxy flagship ever

I hated the Galaxy Note 4. Hate isn’t the word my colleagues here at SamMobile will use, but none of them were fans of the Note 4 either. The hardware was great, but the laggy software was what ruined the device when it launched, and Samsung’s abysmal software support further sealed the deal in making the Note 4 one of the most disappointing flagship smartphones from the Korean giant.

Great hardware has never been an issue with the Note lineup. The most top-notch hardware on the market has what has always separated the Note series from the rest, and this year, Samsung’s focus on a cleaner and optimized software experience has resulted in the Galaxy Note 5 being the most complete flagship Galaxy phone in my opinion.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Review: The best phablet flagship your money can buy

There might not be a microSD card slot or a removable battery, but the Note 5 manages to do well in all the important aspects. The display is stunning, the camera is the best there is in the industry, the phone is screaming fast no matter what you throw at it, the design is as premium as it gets, the S Pen can let you be really productive, and battery life is pretty good as well (though not as good as it was on the Note II, or even the Note 3.) But as I mentioned earlier, it’s the software that really helps make the Note 5 be the complete package it is.

Why? Well, because in this day and age, everyone expects their smartphone to be smooth and fast, especially when they pay upwards of $800 for it. It’s not like people didn’t expect that last year, but at the time manufacturers were able to get away with laggy software rather easily, and Google also hadn’t done enough make Android as optimized as it is today (it’s not totally bug-free, but that’s another story.)

But the advent of low-cost smartphones like the Moto G or the OnePlus One, which offered a nice user experience despite their low price tags, has changed the landscape. Samsung knew this, and we saw its first step towards heavy optimization on the software front with the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. Things have gotten even better with the Note 5, which looks more and more like it will manage to stay smooth even after a few months of usage, something that wasn’t true for the S6 lineup for many users. Add to that the features of the S Pen, and the Note 5 delivers a software experience that’s worth all the praise it can get.

Once again, the lack of two important features – expandable storage and a removable battery – might have put off some Galaxy Note fans (and also the fact that the Note 5 isn’t available in many markets), but there’s no denying the fact that the Note 5 manages to do all the important things very well. Note devices have always had the best hardware upon launch, and Samsung’s improved TouchWiz UX combines with top-of-the-line specs to make the Note 5 the complete flagship the company has ever made.

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Samsung reportedly spending $25 million on Rihanna’s new album and upcoming tour

In what appears to be one of the biggest music and marketing tie-ups in recent memory a report claims that Samsung will be sponsoring Rihanna’s new album and upcoming tour to the tune of $25 million. According to the report both camps have been negotiating on the deal for seven months which covers Rihanna’s upcoming album reportedly titled “Anti” and the subsequent world tour, her eighth studio album is expected to be released in the next few weeks.

It’s interesting to note that Rihanna is signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation label, the rap mogul has had a long partnership with Samsung, and was recently spotted leaving Samsung’s offices in Silicon Valley. This led many to believe that perhaps he was trying to sell his music streaming service Tidal to Samsung but the New York Post suggests he was finalizing the Rihanna partnership. For $25 million Samsung will likely get Rihanna to promote its Galaxy smartphones and may even get exclusive content from the singer to promote its Milk Music service, the company is said to be integrally involved with Rihanna’s tour so concert attendees can expect to see a lot of Samsung branding when they head out to the shows.

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Samsung continues to trim workforce as it looks to further cut costs

Over the past few months there have been multiple reports that Samsung is downsizing its workforce as it wants to cut down on costs, at one point such reports were rubbished by the company, only for one to surface from China claiming that the company was cutting 1,000 jobs in the People’s Republic. According to a new report out of Korea the company is firing managerial-level workers and executives to further cut down on costs. A Samsung official cited in the report says that the company’s top priority is to save costs, “Average workers with mediocre performance are being advised to leave the company with a sizable compensation,” the official says.

The official adds that this latest downsize corresponds to a plan to reduce workforce in countries where Samsung operates manufacturing plants, with human resource officials at those units said to be meeting with employees to persuade them to join the “voluntary retirement system.” It’s unclear how much of its workforce Samsung is going to trim, industry watchers are of the view that Samsung Electronics may let go up to 30 percent of its workforce concentrated in marketing, finance and human resource divisions. This move comes at a time when Samsung has posted its first quarterly operating profit growth after seven straight quarters of decline and the initiation of a massive $9.9 billion share buyback program. The scribe reached Samsung for an on-the-record comment on this matter but the company said it had no comment about layoff plans.

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Activate Samsung Pay by November 8 and get a free wireless charger

Samsung Pay has been performing quite well in South Korea and the United States, the company recently announced that it will be adding support for even more banks and gift cards to the app, all while it tries to get even more people to start using its payments service. The company has announced a new promotion for folks who own the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 edge, the Galaxy S6 edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5. All they have to do is activate Samsung Pay on their device by November 8 to receive a free wireless charger. All of these devices come with wireless charging built right in.

The company had launched a similar promotion for the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+ when Samsung Pay was originally launched a couple of months back, participants could choose between a wireless charger or a flip case, this time around the promotion is open to twice the number of compatible handsets but limited to just the wireless charger. Don’t expect the charger to be immediately shipped, the fine print says that this promotion is limited to 200,000 units and they won’t be shipped for at least 8-10 weeks. To take advantage of this promotion head over to Samsung’s website, enter your email and then follow the instructions to claim your free wireless charger.

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Here’s what VLC looks like on a Tizen smartphone

VideoLAN’s VLC is undoubtedly one of the most popular media players available to the public and the fact that it’s open source and has support for almost every media format under the sun really shows why people love it so much. It’s already available on a wide variety of platforms across desktop and mobile so it was only a matter of time before VLC made its way to Tizen as well. Work on VLC for Tizen has been going on for some time and now we get our first look at what the versatile media player will look like on Samsung’s homegrown OS.

Ludovic Fauvet, a member of the team that’s developing this port, tweeted the images and revealed that work is progressing nicely and that the app should be available for download via the Tizen Store in the very near future. It’s going to be available as a free download, VLC has always been free, and comes with support for the Samsung Z1 and Samsung Z3 Tizen-powered smartphones.

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