Samsung registered 5,000 patents in the US last year

Samsung has been involved in a series of patent lawsuits over the past few years. After its patent wars with Apple and Nvidia, the South Korean electronics giant has been accused by Huawei for patent infringement. Samsung has been registering a number of patents over the past few years to prepare for such patent lawsuits.

Samsung said earlier this week that the company owns over 11,145 patents, and the company filed 23,385 patents last year alone. The company has strategically filed most of its patents in the US, 38,809 to be exact. Samsung has also filed 30,741 patents in South Korea, 15,654 patents in Europe, 10,030 patents in China, 6,746 patents in Japan, and 8,165 patents in other countries.

The company spent over $13 billion in R&D last year alone and stood second only to IBM in terms of patents filed in the US. Samsung has been in the second spot for ten straight years starting from 2006. An end product like a smartphone needs tens of thousands of patents, and if the company gets sued for just one of those, it becomes quite hard to sell that product in the market.

Samsung said, “We own the largest number of patents in the US in terms of accumulation in order to respond effectively to patent disputes to be occurred in the US. Most of them are related to smartphones, smart TVs, memories, LSI system, and currently used or will be utilized for strategic projects in the future.”

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New Good Lock update showcases Samsung’s ability to learn and customize

Good Lock is Samsung’s latest experiment in mobile, and it has come a long way since its initial release. When we first reviewed the app, we thought it had some major problems such as a constant location settings popup, major battery drain, and bland pastel colors. Samsung then took to fixing the auto update bug, home button bug, SD card issues, and added charging recognition so that users would start to see it as they have the current TouchWiz touchscreen, while a later update added a card-style recents menu option for vanilla Android fans who longed for it. A new Good Lock update from the Korean giant goes beyond what we’ve seen so far to provide far more customization now that many software bugs have been squashed in previous versions.

In this new Good Lock update, bearing version number 24.0.9, Samsung has tackled some of the notification shade issues we had with Good Lock before by providing a dark notification shade (you’ll still need to tweak it to achieve it, but its presence is superior to its former absence). Samsung has enhanced Routine color settings, added a mobile hotspot option in the Quick Panel settings, now lets you change the Clock color on the lockscreen, and enabled an AOD Quick Setting for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge users, among other things. In the Good Lock changelog, as can be seen below, Samsung says that “feedbacks from customer are applied,” indicating that Good Lock is devoted to customer feedback. So yes, Samsung is listening to your grievances and trying to meet them.

We’d have to say that the new dark notification shade is probably the greatest addition to Good Lock since its inception. The lighter colors have some appeal with vanilla Android fans, but some TouchWiz users are not too keen on them and would like a little of the familiarity back into the experience.

Good Lock has only had an official release on the market for about a month and is compatible with the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 Active, and the Galaxy Note 5. For those willing to dive in, the APK is below.

If you haven’t given it a spin yet, go ahead. The water’s getting nicer all the time.

APK Download

 

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The Gear 360 is now up for pre-order in Germany for €349

Residents in Germany can now pre-order Samsung’s first 360-degree camera, the Gear 360. The unit is listed on the company’s online website with a relatively low price tag of €349 ($390) and is expected to start shipping to customers on Friday, June 10.

This news comes just two weeks after the Gear 360 went up for pre-order in the UK, and a month after it debuted in South Korea, so it certainly looks like Samsung is on target to have the device successfully launched in Europe by the end of Q2.

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Samsung Pay Mini to launch for Android and iOS next month

According to a new report published by ET News, Samsung will launch a new version of its mobile payment platform next month that will be available for use on all Android-powered smartphones operating on Marshmallow and iPhones running iOS 8+. The service has been dubbed Samsung Pay Mini and will not take advantage of the Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology that put Samsung Pay ahead of the competition. Instead, it will be used exclusively to process online payments, which is an area that the standard build of Samsung Pay lacks use in as this type of transaction only accounts for around 20% of all payments.

The way that Samsung Pay Mini will work is extremely simple. Users will store their credit/debit card information within the secure application, then when they go to purchase a product on their smartphone from an online store or marketplace, the payment gateway will automatically input their details, pay for the goods, then store a copy of their receipt. However, users will first have to authenticate themselves by way of a fingerprint of 6-character password. If things go well, and the service picks up traction relatively quickly, the company has plans to bring a client to both Mac and PC later this year.

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Samsung and LG fighting it out regarding 4K standards

Global TV giants Samsung and LG are locking their horns once again, this time regarding 4K standards. These South Korean electronic giants are busy in disregarding each others display technologies as the International Committee for Display Metrology (ICDM) has changed its policy to require labeling a separate contrast modulation in TV definitions.

ICDM, a committee which establishes display standards, has decided to require marking contrast modulation in display quality definitions. The decision is designed to reveal accurate contrast readings as well as number of lines, which will give consumers a better idea of how accurately a display can reproduce original images.

Samsung has been claiming that RGBW technology in LG’s OLED TVs cannot be considered as true 4K UHD compliant as the use of white color subpixels results in only 60 percent of contrast modulation while RGB displays have an average contrast modulation of 95 percent. On the other hand, LG claims that the latest ICDM decision recognizes RGBW as true 4K UHD standards compliant.

LG said, “Claims that RGBW technology is not 4K by some people were not taken. With the decision of the ICDM, it is internationally recognized as 4K, ending the controversy.” Although ICDM does not enforce brands to follow their guidelines, brands generally adopt their rules.

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Samsung shares all the juicy secrets surrounding the development of its Charm fitness tracker

Three months ago, Samsung took the wraps off its Charm wearable fitness tracker, which it claimed had been designed from the ground up to look like a fashionable bracelet as opposed to a smartwatch. To achieve this appearance, the firm opted for small LED panel to alert users of notifications instead of a fully-fledged LCD display. It also decided to push all basic fitness data directly to the S Health application on a paired smartphone via Bluetooth as opposed to displaying the raw statistics on the unit itself.

When Samsung was developing Charm, it intended to create a “lifestyle band,” which is something that had not been successfully achieved before. Sure, many independent manufacturers had tried to merge fashion and technology, but they hadn’t succeeded. However, it looks like Samsung has drummed up a lot of attention surrounding the Charm. So much so, that the Assistant Manager of Product Planning Areum Ko and Senior Designer Myungkyu Kim have decided to share the story behind the development of the device.

Many questions that we had were answered during the relatively lengthy interview, such as how the idea came to the table, what challenges surfaced during the development stage and how the design was finalized. If you’d like to find out answers to these questions, too, simply hit the source link below to read the full Q&A over on Samsung’s website. I’d definitely advise you to do so as I, personally, found it to be a very good read.

Be sure to keep your browser pointed to SamMobile for our full review of the Charm, which is set to go live next month.

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5-27-2016 Firmware Updates: Galaxy S4, Galaxy J5, Galaxy Note 3, 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 24 hours through our firmware list.

As usual, you can download each of these firmware from our firmware section (simply enter your device’s model number to view all firmware for that device) in order to update to a new firmware manually, or as a means to return to your phone or tablet’s stock software.

Country (Product Code)	Model	Model Name	Version	PDA
Argentina (Personal)(PSN)	SM-G920I	Galaxy S6	5.1.1	G920IDVU3DOJ6
Australia(XSA)	SM-G850Y	GALAXY ALPHA	5.0.2	G850YDOU2BOF3
Australia (Telstra)(TEL)	SM-N9005	GALAXY Note3	4.4.2	N9005XXUGOE2
Baltic(SEB)	SM-J100H	Galaxy J1	4.4.4	J100HXCU0APC1
Brazil(ZTO)	SM-G925I	Galaxy S6 edge	6.0.1	G925IDVS3EPE2
Brazil(ZTO)	SM-G935F	Galaxy S7 edge	6.0.1	G935FXXU1APE9
Bulgaria(BGL)	SM-J100H	Galaxy J1	4.4.4	J100HXCU0APC1
Cambodia(CAM)	SM-N915F	GALAXY Note Edge	5.1.1	N915FXXS1CPD3
Canada (Bell Mobile)(BMC)	SM-N910W8	GALAXY Note4	5.1.1	N910W8VLU1COK3
Canada (Fido Mobile)(FMC)	SM-G900W8	GALAXY S5	5.1.1	G900W8VLU1COI4
Canada (Globalive Wind Mobile)(GLW)	SM-N910W8	GALAXY Note4	5.1.1	N910W8VLU1COK3
Canada (Rogers)(RWC)	SM-G900W8	GALAXY S5	5.1.1	G900W8VLU1COI4
Canada (SaskTel)(BWA)	SM-N910W8	GALAXY Note4	5.1.1	N910W8VLU1COK3
Canada (Virgin Mobile)(VMC)	SM-N910W8	GALAXY Note4	5.1.1	N910W8VLU1COK3
Caucasus Countries(CAU)	SM-T561	Galaxy Tab E	4.4.4	T561XXU0AOL2
Chile(CHO)	SM-G850Y	GALAXY ALPHA	5.0.2	G850YDOU2BOJ1
China (Open China)(CHC)	SM-G9200	Galaxy S6	6.0.1	G9200ZCU2DPD1
China (Open China)(CHC)	SM-N9200	Galaxy Note5	6.0.1	N9200ZCU2BPE3
Czech Republic(ETL)	SM-J100H	Galaxy J1	4.4.4	J100HXXU0APB3
Czech Republic (T-Mobile)(TMZ)	SM-G928F	Galaxy S6 edge+	6.0.1	G928FXXS2BPE4
Egypt(EGY)	SM-N920C	Galaxy Note5	6.0.1	N920CXXU2BPE1
Germany (Vodafone)(VD2)	SM-G901F	GALAXY S5	5.0.2	G901FXXU1BOK2
Greece (Cosmote)(COS)	SM-G928F	Galaxy S6 edge+	6.0.1	G928FXXS2BPE4
Hong Kong(TGY)	SM-G9250	Galaxy S6 edge	6.0.1	G9250ZTU2DPC5
Hong Kong(TGY)	SM-G9250	Galaxy S6 edge	6.0.1	G9250ZTU2DPC5
Hungary(XEH)	SM-J100H	Galaxy J1	4.4.4	J100HXXU0APB3
Hungary (T-mobile)(TMH)	SM-G928F	Galaxy S6 edge+	6.0.1	G928FXXS2BPE4
India(INS)	SM-G313H	GALAXY ACE NXT	4.4.2	G313HDDU0AOK1
India(INU)	SM-G313H	GALAXY ACE NXT	4.4.2	G313HDDU0AOK1
Italy (TIM)(TIM)	SM-G925F	Galaxy S6 edge	6.0.1	G925FXXU3DPC5
Italy (TIM)(TIM)	SM-G925F	Galaxy S6 edge	6.0.1	G925FXXU3DPE9
Kazakhstan(SKZ)	SM-T561	Galaxy Tab E	4.4.4	T561XXU0AOL2
Korea (KT Corporation)(KTC)	SM-N920K	Galaxy Note5	6.0.1	N920KKKU2BPE3
Macedonia (T-Mobile)(MBM)	SM-G928F	Galaxy S6 edge+	6.0.1	G928FXXS2BPE4
Malaysia(XME)	SM-N915F	GALAXY Note Edge	5.1.1	N915FXXS1CPD3
Malaysia(XME)	SM-N9208	Galaxy Note5	6.0.1	N9208XXU2BPE2
Nigeria(ECT)	SM-G361H	GALAXY CORE Prime	5.1.1	G361HXXU0APC1
Philippines (Globe)(GLB)	SM-G900F	GALAXY S5	5	G900FDXS1BPD2
Philippines (Globe)(GLB)	SM-N910C	GALAXY Note4	5.1.1	N910CXXS2CPD3
Philippines (Globe)(GLB)	SM-N9208	Galaxy Note5	6.0.1	N9208XXU2BPE2
Philippines (Open Line)(XTC)	SM-N910C	GALAXY Note4	5.1.1	N910CXXS2CPD3
Philippines (Open Line)(XTC)	SM-N9208	Galaxy Note5	6.0.1	N9208XXU2BPE2
Philippines (Open Line)(XTC)	SM-G900F	GALAXY S5	5	G900FDXS1BPD2
Philippines (Smart)(SMA)	SM-N910C	GALAXY Note4	5.1.1	N910CXXS2CPD3
Philippines (Smart)(SMA)	SM-G900F	GALAXY S5	5	G900FDXS1BPD2
Philippines (Smart)(SMA)	SM-N9208	Galaxy Note5	6.0.1	N9208XXU2BPE2
Philippines (Sun Cellular)(XTE)	SM-N910C	GALAXY Note4	5.1.1	N910CXXS2CPD3
Philippines (Sun Cellular)(XTE)	SM-G900F	GALAXY S5	5	G900FDXS1BPD2
Poland(XEO)	SM-J100H	Galaxy J1	4.4.4	J100HXCU0APC1
Romania(ROM)	SM-J100H	Galaxy J1	4.4.4	J100HXXU0APB3
Romania (Vodafone)(CNX)	SM-G901F	GALAXY S5	5.0.2	G901FXXU1BOK2
Russia(SER)	GT-I9195	GALAXY S4 mini	4.4.2	I9195XXUCPB1
Russia(SER)	GT-I9195	GALAXY S4 mini	4.4.2	I9195XXUCOB1
Russia(SER)	SM-T350	GALAXY Tab A	5.0.2	T350XXU1AOJ1
Saudi Arabia(ACR)	SM-G361H	GALAXY CORE Prime	5.1.1	G361HXXU0APD1
Slovakia(ORS)	SM-G800F	GALAXY S5 mini	4.4.2	G800FXXU1AOI1
South Africa(XFE)	SM-T561	Galaxy Tab E	4.4.4	T561XXU0AOL2
South Africa (Vodafone)(XFV)	SM-G361H	GALAXY CORE Prime	5.1.1	G361HXXU0APC1
South East Europe(SEE)	SM-J100H	Galaxy J1	4.4.4	J100HXCU0APC1
South Korea (KT olleh)(KTF)	SHV-E300K	GALAXY S4	5.0.1	E300KKTUGOL5
South Korea (KT olleh)(KTF)	SHV-E300K	GALAXY S4	5.0.1	E300KKTUGPE2
South Korea (SK Telecom)(SKT)	SHV-E300S	GALAXY S4	5.0.1	E300SKSUGPE2
South Korea (SK Telecom)(SKT)	SHV-E300S	GALAXY S4	5.0.1	E300SKSUGOL5
Spain(PHE)	SM-J500FN	Galaxy J5	5.1.1	J500FNXXU1APE3
Spain(PHE)	SM-J500FN	Galaxy J5	5.1.1	J500FNXXU1APC2
Spain (Vodafone)(ATL)	SM-G901F	GALAXY S5	5.0.2	G901FXXU1BOK2
Taiwan(BRI)	SM-G531Y	GALAXY GRAND Prime	5.1.1	G531YZTU1APC5
Taiwan(BRI)	SM-G9250	Galaxy S6 edge	6.0.1	G9250ZTU2DPC5
Thailand(THL)	SM-N915F	GALAXY Note Edge	5.1.1	N915FXXS1CPD3
Tunisia(TUN)	SM-G361H	GALAXY CORE Prime	5.1.1	G361HXXU0APC1
USA (Verizon)(VZW)	SM-G925V	Galaxy S6 edge	6.0.1	G925VVRU4CPC2
Unknown(MRU)	SM-G361H	GALAXY CORE Prime	5.1.1	G361HXXU0APC1
Unknown(AMO)	SM-G386F	GALAXY CORE LTE	4.2.2	G386FXWUANE2
Unknown(MTA)	SM-G900W8	GALAXY S5	5.1.1	G900W8VLU1COI4
Uruguay(UPO)	SM-G800H	GALAXY S5 mini	5.1.1	G800HXXU1BPC1
Vietnam(XEV)	SM-N915F	GALAXY Note Edge	5.1.1	N915FXXS1CPD3

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