T-Mobile rolls out another security update for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in the US

The United States’ third-largest operator, T-Mobile, has today started rolling out yet another security update for its carrier-branded variants of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge located in the region. The upgrade itself is relatively small, weighing in at around 40MB, but don’t let its size fool you as it carries a patch for a critical software vulnerability that could, if not dealt with correctly, have resulted in a handset’s entire memory being erased.

If you own a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, reside in the US and would like to see if the upgrade is ready for your phone, simply head into Settings, followed by About Device, locate and select Software Update, then hit the Update Now button. Alternatively, you can wait until you receive a push notification prompting you to download and install the update from Samsung’s servers, but you’ll only receive this prompt if you have at least 50% of battery and are connected to a Wi-Fi network.

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How to adjust the transparency of the Edge panel handle

The Galaxy S7 edge is a fantastic phone in terms of both hardware and software, but, lets face it, the Edge panel handle that follows you in and out of every application is a bit of an eye sore. I mean, sure, it may not be the biggest deal in the world, but if you’re shelling out near to $850 for a new smartphone, it would be great to disguise the toggle a little better. Thankfully, Samsung has included a nifty option in the Settings menu, which enables you to not only select the size of the handle, but its transparency, too.

Here’s how you access it:

1. Open up the App Drawer.
2. Locate and select Settings.
3. Tap Edge Screen.
4. Hit Edge Panels.
5. Click on the sub-heading entitled Edge Panel Handle Settings.

Now you’re in the right place to make the required adjustments. We’d recommend dropping the size down to small and decreasing the transparency to around 10-15%. Once you’ve done this, you should notice the handle blend into the background of the application a little better. It should also be more disguised when accessing the home screen and lock screen of your device. If you’re not a fan of this configuration, feel free to have a play around with the options. Once you’re done, just hit the Back button and your changes will be saved.

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T-Mobile Galaxy S5 Marshmallow update released finally

Marshmallow is gradually being rolled out to the Galaxy S5. The update has already gone live in many countries and yet not all carriers in the United States have released it for their customers. Sprint was one of the first carriers in the United States to release Marshmallow for the Galaxy S5 and two months after it released said update, T-Mobile is following suit. The T-Mobile Galaxy S5 Marshmallow update has finally been released today.

T-Mobile has started rolling out Marshmallow for the Galaxy S5 over-the-air. Software version G900T3UVU1GPE1 and G900TUVU1GPE1 will arrive on Galaxy S5 units on T-Mobile, depending upon the model. The download weighs in at just over 1GB and brings all that you’ve come to expect from a Marshmallow update, including but not limited to user interface tweaks, more granular app permissions, Doze mode, Google Now on Tap, and much more.

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Full specifications of the Galaxy S7 Active leak ahead of its official launch

Samsung and AT&T are expected to unveil the Galaxy S7 Active on June 10, and most of the smartphone’s specifications have already been leaked. However, some of the most important bits of information about the device were unknown until now: screen size and battery capacity.

According to a new report from VentureBeat, the Galaxy S7 Active sports a 5.1-inch QHD Super AMOLED display and a huge 4,000 mAh battery. Other specifications include a Snapdragon 820 processor paired with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Buyers would also be able to expand the storage space on the device using a microSD card.

The 9.9mm thick Galaxy S7 Active (SM-G891A) will run Android 6.0.1 out of the box, and will weigh 185 grams. It will come equipped with a 12-megapixel primary camera with dual-pixel phase-detection autofocus and 4K video recording, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with ƒ/1.7 aperture.

Since the battery capacity has been increased by almost 15 percent compared to the Galaxy S6 Active and Samsung has decided to stick with a 5.1-inch display, we would expect its battery life to be nothing short of incredible. The only thing about the Galaxy S7 Active that is left to our imagination is its price tag, but it would most probably be revealed on June 10.

The Galaxy S7 Active is expected to be exclusive to AT&T customers in the US, and will be available in two colors: Green and ‘Desert Camo‘. What do you think about the Galaxy S7 Active?

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New report gives more weight to OLED displays by Samsung for the iPhone

It’s not exactly news that Samsung is in talks with Apple to produce OLED panels for upcoming iPhone models. A new report is now giving this particular report more credence as it talks about a company called Applied Materials seeing a 4X increase in orders of equipment required to produce displays panels. This company could be supplying the components to Samsung or LG, who are believed to be on top of the list to make OLED panels for Apple’s future iPhones.

Strangely, Apple is rumored to be using the OLED displays for the 2017 or 2018 iPhones and not the iPhone 7 lineup which is due this year. Perhaps the company wants to be absolutely certain about its benefits before making the switch from conventional LCD panels. Of course, the rest of the manufacturers have already embraced OLED displays quite some time ago. But better late than never, as they say. Using OLED displays will help Apple cut down on (even more) thickness, making the upcoming iPhones razor thin.

For Samsung, this could mean a significant increase in revenues as Apple is one of its biggest clients since it started making the custom A-series chipsets for Apple. The production of the current-gen Apple A9 chipset is shared by Samsung and TSMC. Similarly, one would expect the orders of the OLED panels to be distributed between LG and Samsung. However, a recent report mentioned that Samsung might be producing about 60% of the OLED panels required for the iPhone, suggesting that Apple is banking heavily on the Korean manufacturer’s expertise in the field.

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Samsung ranks unbelievably low in IoT patents

Samsung is pushing towards Internet of Things, and it acquired SmartThings to strengthen its presence in the home automation market. The South Korean electronics is already developing an operating system for IoT products, but most of the innovation is locked up in patents.

Quartz has compiled a new report, which ranks companies based on the number of IoT patents they hold, based on data from LexInnova. Samsung ranks ninth in the list, which is quite low as per Samsung’s stature. Most of the IoT patents are held by firms that make networking equipment, routers, and other chips. Qualcomm leads the list with 724 patents while Intel, ZTE, Nokia, and LG rank second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

Interestingly, Samsung doesn’t seem to hold any “high-strength” IoT patent. These high-strength patents are the only ones that are litigated, which suggests that only 1.5 percent of all the IoT patents are worth the cost of enforcing. Qualcomm has the clear advantage when it comes to high-strength IoT patents, and the company made $1 billion in revenue last year from chips used in IoT products.

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Samsung sold more high-end smartphones in India than Apple

After facing fierce competition from Chinese and local smartphone brands in India, Samsung has improved its product lineup and its Galaxy J series has become a best-seller in the country. A new report now claims that the South Korean smartphone giant is doing better than expected in the premium smartphone segment.

According to a new report from Counterpoint Research, Samsung sold more premium smartphones than Apple in India during FY 2015-2016. Samsung’s market share in the premium segment stood 47 percent while Apple trailed with a market share of 45 percent. This is certainly great news for Samsung as its market share in the segment was just 35 percent last year while Apple had a market share of 43 percent.

Various reports state that Samsung’s ‘edge’ series of high-end smartphones has made its mark with Indian consumers while dropping prices of those devices have only helped the company’s cause. On the other hand, its fiercest competitor, Apple, has missed the mark with disturbingly steep pricing of the iPhone SE in India, which was supposed to be the company’s savior in the country.

India is one of the biggest smartphone markets in the world, and Samsung is the largest smartphone manufacturer in the country with a market share of 29 percent, while Apple sold just 2 percent of the smartphones in the country during the first quarter of 2016. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently visited India and said that the company will start focusing on the Indian market.

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Leaked images show the Gear Fit 2 in action, possibly arriving in June

A few weeks ago, some images of the Gear Fit 2 were leaked online through Samsung’s own website, confirming that the company will be coming out with a new fitness tracker soon. Renders of the Gear Fit 2 were leaked a fortnight ago showing us that it will be available in blue, black and pink colors. Today, we get to see a host of new images of the Gear Fit 2 in action as we wait for it to hit the market next month.

It was first reported a couple of weeks ago that Samsung is going to launch the Gear Fit 2 in South Korea next month. This is said to be the first Samsung fitness tracker to feature the company’s Bio-Processor which will provide users with enhanced fitness and health tracking features. Previous leaks suggest that the Gear Fit 2 features a 1.84-inch AMOLED display, 4GB internal memory as well as a GPU chip embedded in the CPU. The pictures show that the Gear Fit 2 has a robust, rubberised body with no exposed parts, making it suitable for activities like swimming. Samsung hasn’t confirmed when it’s going to launch this device or how much it’s going to cost, for now, it’s believed that the Gear Fit 2 is going to be launched in June.

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Samsung is dominating the global mobile DRAM market

Latest data from market research firm DRAMeXchange reveals that Samsung is dominating the global mobile DRAM market. With $2.026 billion in sales, it accounted for 60.4 percent of the market in the first quarter of this year. Even though sales dropped 22.7 percent from the previous quarter due to decline in average selling price, Samsung’s DRAM market share still hit an all-time high.

Samsung’s competitor SK Hynix was only able to bring in $903 million in sales during the aforementioned period, a 23.1 percent decline from the same time last year. However, the company did increase its market share slightly by 0.8 percentage points to 26.9 percent. Samsung is now expected to increase its market share to at least 70 percent given that the gap between its adoption of microfabrication technology and that of the others has widened to about two years. While others are still working to perfect their 20-nanometer processes, Samsung has already started an 18-nanometer process this year after having started the 20-nanometer process back in 2014.

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Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro could launch outside China in the near future

The Galaxy A9 was launched as the largest Galaxy A series device late last year, and Samsung later followed it up with the Galaxy A9 Pro. The Galaxy A9 Pro is not very different from the regular A9, with the only differences being the former’s larger battery and higher amount of RAM (5,000 mAh and 4GB respectively). Both devices have been exclusive to the Chinese market so far, but it looks like at least the Galaxy A9 Pro could break that exclusivity in the near future.

Samsung has recently imported a device with model number SM-A910F to India for testing (the Chinese variant is SM-A9100), suggesting it could be working on a non-Chinese variant. There doesn’t seem to be any firmware development going on for an SM-A910F, so the launch of the A9 Pro outside the world’s most populous country could be considerably far away. That’s if Samsung actually plans such a launch, as even an international variant of the regular Galaxy A9 was initially being tested way back in December last year.

Would you be interested in the Galaxy A9 Pro if it makes its way to your country? Let us know in the comments!

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Samsung Display will tout its technology at US trade show

Samsung Display will be setting up shop at the SID Display Week 2016, an annual trade show that takes place in San Francisco, to showcase the advancements it has made in display technology. It will showcase a portfolio of futuristic products that include OLED displays which can be rolled or folded, OLED displays for virtual reality headsets and even hologram technology.

Some of the products that Samsung showcases at this event will give us a hint of the kind of technology that the company might use in future devices. It will also exhibit a 5.7-inch AMOLED display with Quad HD resolution and 0.3-millimeter depth, as well as 13.3-inch and 14-inch touchscreen AMOLED panels for notebooks. Visitors will get to see the transparent and reflective mirror display, aside from the hologram technology that can project 3D images in the air. “The hologram tech is expected to be utilized for various purposes including 3-D games or digital pop-up books,” said Seo Philip, a Samsung Display representative. SID Display Week 2016 takes place from May 24-26 in San Francisco, California.

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