Samsung releases major software update to the Gear S2 with new features

We exclusively reported last week that the Gear S2 would get multiple new features with an upcoming software update. We also previewed the new software along with all the new features and UX improvements. Samsung has now started pushing the update to the Gear S2 and you should be receiving it shortly.

The software update has a file size of 61.1MB and firmware version R732XXU2DPFB (for the Gear S2 classic) or R730XXU2DPFB (for the Gear S2 Sport). It brings My Photo watch face, social sharing for activities, automatic sleep tracking, new S Voice commands, a new contacts app and widget, and other new features to the smartwatch.

You should read our Gear S2 update preview along, which contains screenshots of all the new features, to know more about the update. If you’ve installed the update already, which features do you think the Gear S2 is still missing?

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29CwzgD
via IFTTT

Samsung acquires sizeable stake in China’s largest electric vehicle company

The Samsung Group announced earlier this year that it has formed a new team to grow its automotive-related business. Samsung is also said to be interested in electric and smart cars, it has even modified a race track it owns to test autonomous cars. The company has already teamed up with SAP and SEAT to develop projects for connected cars and has been actively seeking partnerships with iconic German automakers to improve its position in the market. Samsung has now taken a sizeable stake in China’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.

Samsung has confirmed that it has acquired a stake in BYD, China’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles, however the company has not revealed the financial terms of this deal. Reports suggest that Samsung has invested 3 billion yuan ($449.10 million) in the company which gives it a 4 percent stake in the company. Samsung did say that this deal does not mean it’s going to participate in BYD’s management, the company sees its latest investment as a means to improve its partnership with BYD on automotive and smartphone parts. Samsung SDI is a major supplier of battery cells for electric cars but this deal is not linked to the conglomerate’s battery-making arm in any way.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29UewFe
via IFTTT

Samsung Pay to launch in Brazil on July 19

It has been revealed today that Samsung will launch its mobile payment platform in Brazil on Tuesday, July 19; just in time for the Olympic Games that kick off on Friday, August 5. This news comes one month after the manufacturer commenced a pre-launch trial of Samsung Pay in the region, and a mere two days after the service went live in Puerto Rico.

“Samsung Pay reinforces the company’s focus to bring value to both consumers and partners by bringing innovative services to your smartphones,” said Thomas Ko, Vice President of Samsung Pay in a statement. “We are always exploring creative technologies and use cases to provide consumers with an immersive and holistic mobile wallet experience.”

Unfortunately, it’s currently unclear what banks will support the service when it launches. However, we suspect that the top three — Banco do Brasil, Itau, and Caixa Economica Federa — are likely on board. Those traveling to Brazil from a country that already has compatibility for Samsung Pay will also be able to use their registered credit/debit cards to make payments.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29LK2qC
via IFTTT

Gear IconX launched in a handful of countries today

It was only yesterday that Samsung launched its first wireless activity tracking earbuds in South Korea. The company has announced today that the Gear IconX is also available in a handful of other markets including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Canada and Australia. It has said that the Gear IconX will be gradually launched around the rest of the globe in the coming weeks.

The Gear IconX is a new kind of wearable fitness device from Samsung. It has an in-ear heart rate monitor and is capable of functioning as a standalone music player. The Gear IconX is capable of tracking and providing instant feedback for fitness data such as speed, duration, distance, heart rate and calories burned all of which is synced with S Health. The Gear IconX is available in black, white and blue colors. Pricing varies by market.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29AGFPR
via IFTTT

Samsung’s content collaboration with The Players’ Tribune will bring your favorite athletes to virtual reality

Samsung has announced a content collaboration with The Players’ Tribune that’s going to bring some of your favorite athletes to virtual reality. As part of this collaboration, The Players’ Tribune is going to create short-form 360-degree videos focusing on athletes using Samsung’s Gear 360 camera. TPT contributors Von Miller and Hassan Whiteside will capture content using Samsung’s affordable VR camera at exclusive sporting events, content that will be published on The Players’ Tribune platforms, its social media channels and Samsung’s Gear VR headset. This collaboration kicked off with VR content from the 2016 ESPYS.

The Players’ Tribune is a new media company that provides athletes with the tools they require to create premium and innovative content. It publishes first-person stories from athletes and provides unique insight into the daily sports conversation. Now it will be able to provide some of that content in immersive virtual reality courtesy of its collaboration with Samsung.

“The infinite canvas of 360-degree storytelling is a content revolution that Samsung is not only embracing, but supercharging with collaborations like this one with The Players’ Tribune, empowering content creators to tell stories in new and unique ways,” says Marc Mathieu, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung Electronics America.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29H3zVv
via IFTTT

AT&T sweetens its Samsung BOGO deal with free Gear S2 smartwatch

AT&T is offering a new buy one get one free deal on Samsung smartphones starting tomorrow. Customers who purchase one handset on AT&T Next Every Year or AT&T Next plans will get one for free. That’s not all, AT&T is also sweetening the deal by throwing in a free 3G Gear S2 smartwatch. Smartphones eligible for this offer include the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S7 Active, the entire Galaxy S6 series and the Galaxy Note 5.

Customers have to purchase both phones on either of the two plans mentioned above. The first phone can be a new line or upgrade but the second phone has to be a new line. Customers will also need to add both phones to a qualified service plan and pay taxes for both handsets at checkout before they start receiving bill credits for the second phone after three bill cycles or fewer. There’s an option to either get a Gear S2 for free or have the Gear S2 classic discounted to just $50. Both smartwatches support AT&T NumberSync which means customers can use them to make or receive calls using their mobile number even if the smartphone is not nearby. Do hit up the source link to read all of the terms and conditions of this deal on AT&T’s website, this promotion is valid until August 31.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29HPpG2
via IFTTT

Themes Thursday: Here are this week’s seven best Samsung themes

Welcome back to Themes Thursday! Samsung has released a whopping 153 themes this week, but not all of them are good looking. In fact, we liked only seven of those.

If you’re a fan of Material themes, have a look at Eminence UI, [Kendi] Material Red, [Kendi] Material Red Light, and Perfect Note UI themes. The Sailing theme has subdued colors, but it still looks great. Which theme did you like?

If paid themes aren’t available in your country, there’s a workaround that you can use to download paid themes from the Theme Store using PayPal.

Eminence UI

Korea MINDON Design

[Kendi] Material Red

[Kendi] Material Red Light

Perfect Note UI

Sailing

Serendipity

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29UJkFG
via IFTTT

Samsung shares all the details surrounding the development of Gear Fit 2′s GPS capabilities in new interview

Three weeks ago, Samsung shared an interview it conducted with its leading designers shedding some light on the work that went into making the Gear Fit 2 as comfortable, secure and sleek as it is, and today we’re getting an opportunity to find out exactly how the engineering team used the band’s integrated GPS chip to create a new standard of fitness recognition amongst wearables.

A total of six questions were answered during this latest interview, including: how the team managed to embed full GPS capabilities, the secrets that went into improving battery efficiency and the technology behind the industry’s first automatic workout recognition sensors. If you’d like to find out the answers to these questions, hit the source link below to view the full Q&A over on Samsung’s website.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29xzkEm
via IFTTT

Samsung working with Reliance Jio to offer 3-month unlimited LTE data and calls in India

Samsung is working with new Indian telecom operator Reliance Jio to offer unlimited texts, HD voice and video calls, and 4G LTE data for three months (90 days). Anyone who buys Samsung’s higher mid-range or high-end smartphones in India can avail this offer.

The offer is currently available for select Samsung smartphones including the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy Note 5 Dual SIM, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy A7 (2016), Galaxy A5 (2016), Galaxy A8, Galaxy A7 (2015), and Galaxy A5 (2016).

To avail the offer, users need to download the MyJio app on any eligible Samsung smartphone. They need to check if Reliance Jio is offering their SIM card at their location, generate the offer code, select identity and address proof, and collect the SIM card from the nearest Reliance Jio Store or Dx Mini Store.

 

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2abVSYg
via IFTTT

Samsung Cloud Together could be a new cloud storage service for smartphones and tablets

Samsung has filed for a new trademark in the European Union which suggests that the company could soon introduce a new cloud storage service for its smartphones and tablets. It has filed a trademark for “Samsung Cloud Together” at the European Union Intellectual Property Office, it has mentioned electronic storage of data, images, photos, videos, audios and more under the list of services that this provides.

From the looks of it, Samsung Cloud Together is going to be an iCloud-like service which lets Samsung smartphone and tablet users to easily upload their files to the cloud and access them across multiple Samsung devices. It’s unclear at this point in time how much storage the company could potentially offer for free to Cloud Together users and how much it will charge for greater storage options. Samsung has an event scheduled for August 2 where it’s going to unveil the Galaxy Note 7 but it can’t be said for sure right now if Cloud Together is going to be introduced alongside the company’s upcoming flagship handset.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2abVlpA
via IFTTT

All US Galaxy Note 7 models approved by the FCC

Samsung confirmed yesterday that it’s going to unveil the Galaxy Note 7 on August 2. The company is also expected to release the handset on the very same day at least in selected markets. We know the handset is now one step closer to release as the Federal Communications Commission has approved all US Galaxy Note 7 models.

The regulatory body has certified the SM-N930V, SM-N930A, SM-N930P, SM-N930T, SM-N930R4 and the SM-N930W8. This means that the handset is going to be available from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. All of these models are expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor coupled with possibly 6GB of RAM. The Galaxy Note 7 is expected to be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 8893 processor in other markets. We have already told you how much this handset is likely to cost and now you just need to wait until August 2 to find out the precise availability information for your market.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29Udkl1
via IFTTT

Samsung rolls out July SMR to all unlocked variants of the Galaxy S7 in Europe

Samsung has today started rolling out this month’s Security Maintenance Release (SMR) to all unlocked variants of the Galaxy S7 located in Europe. The upgrade itself is identical to the one that the manufacturer started pushing out in the United Kingdom yesterday, bringing a much-needed fix for a critical error that resulted in the Jack audio service enabling malicious applications to access or modify values stored in shared memory.

As we’ve come to expect from all major and minor firmware updates, the OTA is being pushed out in stages. However, if you’d like to see if its ready for your device simply follow these steps: Settings » About Device » Software Update » Update Now. Alternatively, you can always wait until you receive a push notification prompting you to download the upgrade, but you’ll need to have at least 50% of battery to receive the alert.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29yzS9t
via IFTTT

Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro is likely to be limited to Asian markets

The Galaxy A9 Pro has been teasing us a lot in recent weeks, with the device getting through important certifications and also going on sale in Malaysia late last month. Quite a few folks have been expecting the A9 Pro to get a worldwide launch based on various leaks and rumors, but it seems the 6-inch device will be limited to only Asian markets. Firmware for the phablet have made their way online for various Asian countries, including Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

With the firmware files now up, it’s a good sign the Galaxy A9 Pro will go on sale in these markets in the very near future. It’s not listed on Samsung’s website for these regions just yet, but we’re guessing that will not be the case for long. It’s too bad Samsung has decided not to launch its largest and most powerful Galaxy A device across the globe, although it is likely because 6-inch smartphones aren’t in high demand in every market.

The Galaxy A9 Pro features a 6-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, the Snapdragon 652 SoC, 4GB of RAM, a 16-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, 32GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and a 5,000 mAh battery. It has a glass and metal design like other Galaxy A handsets launched in 2016, and it should be priced somewhere between $500 and $600 wherever it becomes available for sale.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2abA8Mt
via IFTTT

Samsung expected to receive a surge in sales of SUHD TVs

If a new report published by the Science Ministry and Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute is anything to go by, it would appear that Samsung is set to benefit from a rapid increase in demand for high-end TV products, including SUHD TVs. The study suggests that the planned commercialization of SUHD broadcasting services in South Korea for February 2017 will be the main driver behind the surge in sales that will last for the next few years.

It’s estimated that the total value of all SUHD TVs sold in the region alone this year will peak at 1.2 trillion won, which is up 228.6 billion from the total sales reported in 2015. Samsung isn’t putting all its eggs in one basket, though, as it looks like its hoping India will be another essential market where SUHD will catch on as it recently released a handful of new bezel-less curved Quantum Dot TVs in the country.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/29A6rTN
via IFTTT