Canada’s first VR popup cinema uses the Gear VR

Samsung’s Gear VR headset has been installed in the first Virtual Reality popup cinema to be erected in North America. More specifically, the VIVID VR Cinema was constructed in Toronto, Canada, where a total of three different films were being shown — The Visitor, where a young couple prepares for the woman’s greatest fear to arrive; Imago, a title about a former dancer in a coma who’s aware of her surroundings; and Sonar, a movie about a drone that discovers a signal on an asteroid.

Inside the venue are around thirty chairs, each equipped with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and a Gear VR with a Galaxy S7 clipped to the back. Customers purchase tickets for $20 and have around 40-minutes to watch the three films. What’s really neat here is that the movies have been carefully crafted to enable their viewers to choose different narratives to focus on, making each and every viewing experience totally unique.

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Young drivers taught about the horrors of a car crash with the Gear VR

The Gear VR is capable of providing an immersive virtual reality experience which makes the user feel as if they have been transported to another time and place. This technology is being put to use in movies, concerts, sporting events and more but Leicestershire Fire and Rescue have come up with another novel way of using virtual reality. They have created a VR experience for the Gear VR that teaches young drivers in Market Harborough about the horrors of a car crash in a bid to make better drivers out of them. One in four drivers under the age of 24 is expected to be involved in a car crash within the first two years of driving which is why rescues services are trying to teach them that it’s worth taking extra care behind the wheel.

The virtual reality experience powered by the Samsung Gear VR enables young drivers to watch a virtual version of themselves being cut out of a totalled car and receiving medical treatment. All participants were found to show elevated heart rates during the VR experience and one even reported experiencing sympathy pains from an injection. A participant who had previously been involved in a car accident that resulted in the death of two friends described the VR experience as “very good,” but asked for it to be turned off as he found it too realistic. After watching the VR experience one participant even claimed that she doesn’t want to get inside a car ever again! The idea behind this experience was to teach young drivers about the potential for disaster when they’re not paying attention behind the wheel. Hopefully, this will teach them to be more careful when on the road. You can check out a small part of this VR experience here.

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Not alone: the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, along with the LG G5, have a notification shade shortcut

LG has for years let users add a fourth soft button (along with the standard set of three navigation buttons) to bring down the notification shade. Huawei’s P9 has that feature too. But you still can’t do this one [sic] a myriad of phones, from the HTC 10 to Samsung Galaxy S7. So if you’re on those phones and you want to check for any missed calls or Instagram likes, you have to use a second hand or streeeeetttch that thumb (Ben Sin, “LG’s Software Is More Functional Than All Other Android Skins, Including Stock.” July 3, 2016, Forbes).

I’ve had the pleasure of spending the last several weeks with the LG G5, and have been able to experience a UI different from that of Samsung’s TouchWiz. Sure, it can be said that LG’s UX has some things I’d like to see in TouchWiz, such as the brightness number percentage (35% brightness, for example), as opposed to a brightness adjuster that only lets me approximate a level without any numerical indication whatsoever), but I’ve also discovered that Samsung’s TouchWiz UX is more functional than many give it credit for.

Such is the case with an individual who recently took to writing about how he prefers the LG UX over all others. Sure, when it comes to stock Android, I likely agree with him (and that’s no small thing for a diehard Samsung fan to say), but I take issue with the individual’s claim, cited above, that Samsung’s TouchWiz has no “soft button to bring down the notification shade.” Sure, it can be said that there is no software button on-screen that matches the LG notification button, but Samsung does have a software button of its own that, once enabled, floats around the mobile experience with you on every page and website that does pull down your notification shade.

First, let’s find out where this soft button is. Next, we’ll discover how to enable it and see exactly what it does.

Samsung’s software notification shade shortcut is located in Assistant Menu 

Have you ever heard of “Assistant Menu”? It’s a feature within TouchWiz that has been present since at least 2014 with the Galaxy S5 that lets you navigate the entire experience with an on-screen control panel of buttons. You can enable the notification shade shortcut and software control panel (as I call it) on the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge by going to Settings -> System -> Accessibility -> Dexterity and Interaction -> Assistant Menu. Once you tap on Assistant Menu, be sure to toggle the feature on at the very top of the Assistant Menu page.

If you take some time to examine this feature, you’ll notice that a blue circle with a white square appears on the screen. Tap on it, and the circle opens to present a white square with blue buttons that let you control lots of functions within TouchWiz: 1) cursor, 2) More Options, 3) Volume, 4) screen lock, 5) screenshots, 6) easy pinch zoom, 7) Open phone options, 8) Menu settings, 9) Magnifier Window, 10) Recent apps, 11) Home Screen, 12) Back,  and13) Notification panel (remember? This is the feature that the individual said didn’t exist within TouchWiz; and yet, it’s here).

The notification panel also works well within web pages, allowing you to view tabs and the task manager should you need to with just one tap, so it’s not just designed for interaction with apps on your phone desktop.

The notification panel shortcut button allows you to pull down the notification shade when you tap it. Sure, it doesn’t look like LG’s, but it is a software button that does the exact same thing. And, contrary to the individual’s claim, this feature has been in Samsung’s TouchWiz since at least the Galaxy S5 if not earlier (I have a Galaxy S5 as well and can verify the feature’s existence within earlier TouchWiz UX versions). Assistant Menu is present on the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Active, Galaxy S5, and Galaxy Note 4 – and could very likely have long existed on earlier Galaxy models.

Conclusion

This post was written to tackle a claim made against Samsung, and it did just that. I’ve shown here that the claim itself is erroneous, that Samsung has had a software button to pull down the notification shade for at least 2 years in its software. With that said, we continue to speak to fellow journalists and tech sites about the need for accuracy.

There is nothing wrong with those who prefer LG over Samsung (we understand that everyone has their preferences), but we’d call arguments such as the one above “straw-man” arguments that attempt to set up one company’s phones with a false argument that’s designed to shoot them down without giving them fair opportunity. Contrary to the individual’s claim above, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge do provide something of a notification shade pull-down shortcut that works in the exact same fashion as that found on the LG G5, a phone which I also own, as well as other LG phones from years past.

In the end, it pays to do due diligence before going public with claims such as these. There’s no harm in preferring a brand over Samsung. There is harm, however, in trying to make another brand “glow” by throwing dirt on Samsung and making claims that simply aren’t true. In addition, this post has also accomplished something that I love: that is, it gives consumers one more reason to believe that Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge can roll with the best of ‘em – if not best ‘em.

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Galaxy Tab S3 launch reportedly set for September 1

Samsung is yet to release a proper next-generation tablet this year. Back in April it quietly released an updated version of its high-end Galaxy Tab S2 which featured a new processor but everything else remained the same, including the name. A new report by well-known Russian technology journalist Eldar Murtazin claims that Samsung has set the Galaxy Tab S3 launch for September 1.

Murtazin has not leaked any proof at this point in time which confirms that Samsung is going to release a new high-end tablet in about two months. There’s no other evidence available right now which suggests that the Galaxy Tab S3 is around the corner. It’s quite possible that we might hear more about this tablet and even see some leaks prior to the reported launch date but that doesn’t make it enough to conclude that the Galaxy Tab S3 will be launched on September 1. If the company is going to launch a new device on this date it’s rather likely to be the Gear S3 smartwatch instead of the new high-end tablet. Fans are not going to be too concerned about these devices just yet as they are patiently waiting for the Galaxy Note 7 which Samsung has confirmed it will launch on August 2.

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T-Mobile to offer buy-one-get-one promotion for the Galaxy Note 7

Samsung confirmed about a week ago that it’s going to unveil the Galaxy Note 7 at an event in New York City on August 2. There have been rumors that perhaps the Galaxy Note 7 is going to be released on the same day in select markets. While that’s yet to be confirmed, it appears that T-Mobile might be preparing a bold promotion for what’s certainly going to be one of the hottest smartphones on the market this year.

Serial leakster @evleaks has said that T-Mobile is going to offer a buy-one-get-one-free promotion for the Galaxy Note 7. This would be a rather bold move on the carrier’s part as it’s not common for such promotions to be offered at launch for high-end flagship handsets. T-Mobile will certainly be looking to capitalize on the popularity of Samsung’s flagships to bring in more subscribers and what could be a better way to bring more people in than to offer them the Galaxy Note 7 for free as long as they agree to pay for one. T-Mobile has made a name for itself in the United States as a carrier that doesn’t shy away from taking bold steps so there just might be an element of plausibility to this, but we’ll only know for sure once the official pricing and availability information is confirmed next month.

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Samsung Pay Rewards program reportedly launching soon

Samsung rolled out support for membership and loyalty cards to Samsung Pay two months ago and a new report suggests that the company is going to launch its own loyalty program for Samsung Pay users in the near future. It’s tentatively called Samsung Pay Rewards and this loyalty program is expected to be launched in the coming months.

The company has been working hard to expand its mobile payment service to more markets across the globe. Samsung Pay has gone live in several countries over the past few months with Brazil being the most recent country to get the payments service. Samsung Pay has more than 2.5 million subscribers across all of the markets it’s currently available in. The Samsung Pay Rewards program is going to be similar to most rewards programs. Users will earn points that they can redeem later every time they make a purchase using Samsung Pay. When this loyalty program goes live it’s going to set Samsung Pay apart from the competition, something that MST support already does, and it’s also going to develop a sense of loyalty among users so that they don’t stop using Samsung Pay after they’re tried it a few times.

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Carriers listing confirms 64GB base variant for the Galaxy Note 7

Internal storage on phones hasn’t grown as quickly as one would like. We have ultra-powerful SoCs, brilliant displays, amazing cameras and more on smartphones these days, but manufacturers have taken a long time getting around to offering even 32GB of internal storage on their flagships. Last year, Samsung took away expandable storage from its flagships and compensated for the fact with both 32GB and 64GB variants (and a 128GB variant in some markets). In 2016, the company brought the microSD slot back, but it also limited internal storage to only 32GB in every market with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

A recent rumor suggested the Galaxy Note 7′s base variant will come with 64GB of onboard storage, and we have gotten our hands on an image that seems to support that rumor, at least for the Korean market. Well, only the Korean Telecom version is listed with 64GB storage in the image so it is possible other carriers could still release a 32GB model, but we would really like to believe that the Note 7′s base variant will have 64GB built-in in every region. In fact, no one should expect anything less on a device that is expected to be priced at €849.

The Galaxy Note 7 could also come with a hybrid slot that supports both regular microSD cards and Samsung’s new UFS cards, although this is just speculation at this point.

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Samsung’s standalone virtual reality headset might be called Odyssey

Samsung confirmed three months ago that it’s working on a standalone virtual reality headset which is going to feature positional tracking, a technology found in high-end handsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. This means that Samsung is developing a headset that’s going to compete against the Vive and the Rift. This also means that this standalone VR headset will not require one of Samsung’s smartphones to function.

Recent applications by Samsung for registration of a trademark and logos reveal that the standalone headset is likely going to be called Odyssey. Samsung has filed for the registration of the brand name Odyssey in South Korea as well as for two logos including one which has “VR” in stylized letters. Descriptions provided in the trademark applications mention “virtual reality game headsets” and “virtual reality game software.” There aren’t a lot of details available about this headset right now so it can’t be said for sure how it compares to the current crop of high-end VR headsets, it’s also unclear when Samsung is going to introduce this standalone headset. However, Samsung is expected to come out with the next-generation Gear VR headset in the near future.

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Samsung’s rolling out the July 1 security patch and not the one dated July 5

As I’m sure you’re aware, every month Google publishes a new Security Maintenance Release (SMR) for the Android operating system. The SMRs are developed to keep as many smartphones as possible up-to-date with the latest security patches. Manufacturers, like Samsung, are provided with the firmware a couple of days before it’s revealed to the public; giving them a short turnaround time to adapt the code to work on their latest devices. However, this month the search engine giant strayed from tradition by issuing two different patches — one dated July 1, 2016, and the other July 5, 2016.

Samsung is already well underway with its rollout of the July SMR. It was only a couple of days ago that it started pushing out an OTA to all unlocked variants of the Galaxy S7 located in Europe. However, it has now been brought to our attention that the company is distributing the earlier version of the patch, and decided not to merge the contents with the most recent version (which is the case with most other manufacturers as well). Don’t be alarmed, though, as the contents of the July 5 release are likely to be a part of the security patch that starts rolling out in August.

It’s also worth noting that the decision to release two different patches does not necessarily mean that your phone is less secure if you’re running the July 1 firmware instead of July 5. Here’s what the development team based in Google’s Mountain View HQ had to say about the matter: “Devices that use the July 1, 2016 security patch level must include all issues associated with that security patch level, as well as fixes for all issues reported in previous security bulletins. Devices that use July 1, 2016 security patch level may also include a subset of fixes associated with the July 5, 2016 security patch level.”

Thanks for the tip, Harish!

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