Samsung’s consumer electronics division might post healthy profit but components business may see loss in Q2

Market analysts are of the view that Samsung’s consumer electronics business is going to post robust operating profit of 1 trillion won ($870 million) in the second quarter of this year. This is going to be the first time since 2009 that the company’s consumer electronics division will see its operating income cross 1 trillion won. Analysts also expect the business to demonstrate strong performance in the second half of this year due to the weak Korean won that’s a result of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, commonly known as Brexit. It’s said that the profits have been driven up by Samsung’s high-end TVs, connected home appliances, and air conditioners.

Things may not be this good for Samsung’s components business. Analysts forecast that the company’s component division, including Samsung SDI and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, will post disappointing earnings in Q2 2016. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is expected to post 21.7 billion won ($18.9 million) in operating income which will be a 49.4 percent decline from the previous quarter with total revenue coming in at 1.6 trillion won. Samsung SDI – the conglomerate’s battery-making arm – had a lot of red on its balance sheet in the first quarter of this year with a 704 billion won operating loss. Analysts expect that Samsung SDI is going to post another operating loss in Q2 2016 with some suggesting that it could be as high as 38.2 billion won.

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Samsung partners with SAP to provide enterprise cloud solutions in Asia-Pacific

Samsung SDS has partnered with SAP to provide cloud solutions to enterprises in Asia-Pacific. Samsung SDS is the South Korean company’s IT services arm, and it has announced that it will offer low-cost enterprise cloud services that could be applied to finance,  sales, and purchase areas of firms.

Bernd Leukert, a member of the executive board for SAP‘s Products & Innovation, said, “We are proud to announce our partnership with Samsung SDS in enterprise cloud, one of SAP’s core services. Through diverse solutions designed for various lines of business, we will further support our customers and partners in establishing a solid foundation for cloud environment,” in a statement.

Samsung is making some bold moves to improve its position in the cloud services market. It recently acquired US-based cloud vendor Joyent and partnered with IBM to offer cloud-based security solutions to clients.

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Here are this week’s ten best themes for Galaxy smartphones

Samsung has released 112 themes this week in its Theme Store, including paid and free ones. We’ve selected ten best themes to save you from the pain of going through all of them.

Themes from Lucas Kendi – [Kendi] DarkOS and [Kendi] Firex – are one of the best, and so is the Material Plus Dark theme from Felipe Lelite. Other flat themes such as Flat Times and Flatwiz are good-looking too.

Kids might love Bike Riding Monster (Live) and Monster themes. Vogue UI theme from Hiten Soni gives a rugged look to the UI. Which new theme did you like this week? If you like a theme released this week that’s not listed here, let us know its name in the comments section below.

[Kendi] DarkOS

[Kendi] Firex

Bike Riding Monster (Live)

EiD – Simple Flat

Flat Times

Flatwiz

Material Plus Dark

Monster Theme

Touchstock

Vogue UI

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Verizon and Samsung have made a 4G LTE network extender for your home

Verizon and Samsung have teamed up to create a new 4G LTE network extender that’s designed to improve wireless voice communications and data coverage for residential and small business use. It’s a scaled-down version of the 4G LTE network extender for Enterprise that the two companies introduced earlier this year, the new extender expands Verizon’s 4G LTE in-building solution to homes, small businesses, restaurants, etc.

Samsung’s small cell technology powers this network extender and enables Verizon subscribers to make HD voice and video calls, access mobile data and stream content from in-building locations where cell reception might not be that great. This product offers a cost-effective solution to overcome the challenge of weak reception in buildings with dense materials or in remote locations. It essentially works like a mini 4G LTE cell tower that covers 7,500 square feet and provides enhanced voice, video, and data services to seven devices simultaneously. The eighth channel on the extender is reserved for 911 calls. The extender is plug-and-play so there’s no complicated installation involved, it’s available for purchase from Verizon starting today for $249.99.

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NBC Olympics will provide VR coverage of Rio 2016 exclusively to the Samsung Gear VR

NBC Olympics has announced today that it’s going to provide virtual reality coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympics exclusively to the Samsung Gear VR. This is the first time that Olympics programming will be available in virtual reality, authenticated users of compatible Samsung smartphones in the United States will be able to access it with Gear VR via the NBC Sports app.

The Olympic Broadcasting Services will capture and supply 85 hours of VR programming to NBC Olympics, programming will include the Opening and Closing ceremonies, men’s basketball – including the semifinals and finals — gymnastics, beach volleyball, track and field, diving, boxing, and fencing. Highlight packages of these sports will be supplied in VR as well.

All VR programming will be distributed on delay from August 6, the day after the Opening Ceremony through August 22, the day after Rio 2016 ends. The VR content section of the NBC Sports app will only be accessible on Samsung Galaxy smartphones that are compatible with the Gear VR. Compatible handsets include the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, and the Galaxy Note 5.

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Verizon releases Marshmallow for the Galaxy Tab E 8.0

Verizon launched the Galaxy Tab E 8.0 on its network around four months ago. When the tablet was released it came with Android Lollipop out of the box, users will be delighted to find out that the carrier has started rolling out the Marshmallow update for this tablet today. It bumps up the OS version to Android 6.0.1 and adds everything that’s part and parcel of Marshmallow.

Software version T377VVRU1BPD6 is now being rolled out for the Galaxy Tab E 8.0 by Verizon. Aside from bringing all of the features that you can expect from a hefty Marshmallow update it also adds the June security patch to the device. Since Verizon is rolling it out over-the-air it might take some time for the update to go live for all users. Those who don’t want to wait can download the Verizon Galaxy Tab E 8.0 Marshmallow update from our firmware section and flash it manually.

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Unlocked Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge now available in the US from Samsung

Customers in the United States who wanted to purchase an unlocked Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge had to rely on third-party retailers because Samsung wasn’t officially selling unlocked variants of its 2016 flagship smartphones in the country, but that changes today. Samsung has now started selling off-contract and unlocked Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge units in the United States for those who would rather pay money upfront to have total control over their device.

There’s nothing different about these unlocked variants specs-wise and they’re compatible with all four major US carriers as well as US Cellular. Since these are unlocked and off-contract units they offer no subsidies. Customers interested in picking one up can purchase the unlocked Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge directly from Samsung’s website for $670 and $770 respectively. They will also be sold through retailers like Amazon, Target, and Best Buy.

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Leaked front panel of the Galaxy Note 7 points at iris scanner

We have told you time and again that the Galaxy Note 7 is going to feature an iris scanner. Every rumor about the handset’s specification new mentions the same and now we’re seeing an allegedly leaked front panel of the Galaxy Note 7 which reiterates that the upcoming flagship is going to feature iris scanning technology. The panel also reiterates that the Galaxy Note 7 is going to have a 5.8-inch dual-edge display.

If you compare both front panels you can see that the alleged Galaxy Note 7 has additional cutouts above the display that can’t be seen on the Galaxy Note 5 panel. That’s where the iris scanner is going to be position so it lines up nicely with everything we have been hearing about it. From the looks of it, the Galaxy Note 7 is definitely going to be the first consumer handset from Samsung that features iris recognition technology and we can certainly expect the technology to trickle down to the company’s other smartphones in the future.

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Patent application shows 3-in-1 device based on a stretchable OLED display

A patent application by Samsung Display published today in South-Korea shows a 3-in-1 device that transforms from a watch into a phone, and even a tablet. The device is based on a stretchable OLED display.

The patent application ‘Device using stretchable display and controlling method of the same‘ was filed one and a half years ago at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and shows a highly flexible display unit that can be folded together into what is essentially a smartwatch. It can then stretch into a phone, and ultimately fold out to become a tablet.

To achieve this, a display is used that can bend, fold and stretch into various shapes and form factors, making for one versatile piece of, as the patent explicitly points out, OLED technology. Samsung has filed patents for a stretchable display in the past, but this is the first one showing a more concrete application for such technology. Even so, what we see here is a concept much more than an actual product.

At the moment, we’re still waiting for Samsung’s first foldable display phones to appear on the market. Rumors about a device codenamed Project Valley date back more than a year, and examples of Samsung’s foldable display were shown off even much longer ago - and as recently as last month. The first of those devices are expected to hit the market in 2017, so it’s easy to see we’re years away from actual products based on a stretchable display.

What do you think? Does the future need devices that wrap around your wrist, but stretch into a phone or tablet when required?

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Galaxy A9 Pro goes up for sale outside of China

We’ve known for a while now that Samsung has been preparing to launch the Galaxy A9 Pro outside of China. We first caught wind of the speculation when an unidentified model of the smartphone was imported into India for testing. Shortly after, the device was granted both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi certification in the United States. This instantly sparked a mass of rumors suggesting that the manufacturer was working on an International variant of the unit that would venture out of the Asian market. However, it looks like chatter was a little off base as the firm has today launched the handset in Malaysia.

Judging by the marketing material being used for this campaign, it would appear that this is the same Galaxy A9 Pro that made its debut in China back in March. If turns out to be the case, the handset sports a 6-inch Super AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 chipset, an Adreno 510 GPU, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable internal memory, a 16MP rear-facing camera, an 8MP front-facing camera and a 5,000mAh non-removable battery. With regards to pricing, the device is listed on Independent retailer Senheng’s online store for RM 1,999 ($495).

It’s still possible that an International release is still on the table and that Malaysia is being used as a testbed region so that Samsung can gauge interest in the device before considering if it’s worth shipping units to major vendors in France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Only time will tell, though. As always, be sure to keep your browser pointed to SamMobile as we’ll keep you updated with all the latest information on the matter.

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