Samsung confirms acquisition of QD Vision, a US-based Quantum Dot display company

Following reports that it was considering an acquisition of US-based Quantum Dot display company QD Vision, Samsung today confirmed that it is indeed acquiring the company. The confirmation comes from the head of Samsung’s Advanced Institute of Technology Jung Chil-hee who told reporters earlier today that the company has decided to take over QD Vision. It’s expected that the deal will formally be announced next week.

For those who are unaware, Quantum Dot technology provides better picture quality and happens to be more energy efficient than regular LCD technology. Most TV companies don’t make Quantum Dot TVs due to their inability to do this without using the heavy toxic metal cadmium. Samsung is the only company that’s making cadmium-free Quantum Dot TVs.

No financial terms of the deal have been disclosed as yet but industry sources are of the view that this company might have cost Samsung around $70 million. That’s a drop out of the ocean for a company like Samsung that’s already putting considerable time and resources into Quantum Dot technology. Samsung made a commitment earlier this year that it will launch fourteen new SHUD TV models with Quantum Dot technology in 2016. It recently backed that up with a 10-year free burn-in warranty for all of its SHUD TVs with Quantum Dot display.

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Samsung’s new holiday commercial is all about the feels and the free Gear VRs

The lucrative holiday shopping season is just around the corner and Samsung has already released a commercial which shows why you should buy some of its greatest products this year as gifts for yourself or your friends and family. The company today released a new holiday commercial that’s all about the feels that you can get from the Gear VR headset. The commercial accompanies a new offer from Samsung that gives a free Gear VR to customers who purchase a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge.

In what is surely a diverse ad, we see multiple people unboxing their presents to find a Gear VR. They immediately snap in the phone and put the headset on to experience immersive virtual reality. All Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge customers will be able to claim a free Gear VR starting tomorrow until November 28. Customers will have to fill out the Offer Claim Form and their free gift will then be confirmed within two weeks. They will also receive a $50 Oculus content gift card as part of this offer. The full terms and conditions for this offer can be found here.

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Samsung gets raided again over controversial merger deal

Samsung finds itself ensnared in a corruption scandal that threatens to bring down South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office of South Korea has previously raided Samsung Electronics HQ in Seoul after allegations of bribes being paid to the president’s close personal friend Choi Soon-sil in order to gain influence. Some of Samsung’s top executives, even the heir apparent, have been questioned by the prosecutors.

The offices of Samsung Group were raided earlier today as part of the probe into the corruption scandal, some reports suggest that Choi Soon-sil used her influence to pressure South Korea’s National Pension Service to vote in favor of the controversial merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries last year. The offices of NPS have been raided today as well.

South Korea’s National Pensive Service was the largest shareholder of Samsung C&T as it held around 10 percent of the company. The merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was strongly opposed by many minority shareholders and global equity funds who believed that it would only increase the founding Lee family’s hold over the conglomerate and provide little or no value to minority shareholders. We’ve already explained in another post how this controversial merger was passed.

The National Pension Service’s vote was crucial in pushing this merger through. Following the corruption probe there have been allegations that Samsung backed Choi’s sham foundations in return for influence. It’s alleged that Choi used her close position with the president to put pressure on the NPS to vote in favor of the merger. The prosecutors will now investigate whether the NPS only supported the merger due to the pressure that Samsung was effectively able to buy.

Samsung has previously said that it will cooperate with the authorities every step of the way. None of the allegations against the company have actually been proved right now.

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GFXBench reveals the hardware specs of the Galaxy J3 (2017)

The 2017 iteration of the Galaxy J3 is all set for an unveiling as we all know. In fact, its arrival hasn’t exactly been a secret considering the amount of leaks we have encountered over the past couple of months.

GFXBench is now confirming some of the hardware credentials that we already knew about. Geekbench has also shed some light on this aspect before.

Previously, we saw the handset with the model number SM-J327P leaking out. But GFXBench is revealing a different model, known as SM-J327. This variant is expected to be packing a 5-inch 720p display, a 1.4 GHz Snapdragon 425 SoC, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The battery capacity of the smartphone wasn’t revealed by this leak.

Given the kind of leaks we’ve seen so far, we might not have to wait long to hear more about the arrival of the all new Galaxy J3.

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Rogers taking reservations for the Blue Coral Galaxy S7 edge

Earlier this month, Samsung confirmed that the Blue Coral Galaxy S7 edge will eventually make its way to Canada. It seems like the day is not far away now, with Rogers taking reservations for this particular variant. There’s still no date to mark on your calendars, although the carrier mentions that you will be shelling out $1000 CAD for this model.

The handset can be purchased either from Samsung Experience Stores across the country or online via Samsung.ca. While the price is slightly on the steeper side, Samsung believes that this new color variant will spark a new life to its dwindling sales of its products post the Galaxy Note 7 recall, although polls suggest that its popularity hasn’t dimmed down much.

The Blue Coral Galaxy S7 edge made its way to T-Mobile recently, while the likes of AT&T, Verizon and Sprint are carrying this variant as well.

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Hardware Battle: Google Daydream View vs. Samsung Gear VR

Samsung’s Gear VR is now in its third-generation, seeing that the Korean giant announced its Innovator Edition in 2014 with the Galaxy Note 4. Google had Google Cardboard, but few can take a cardboard VR headset seriously. So, after some time dabbling in cardboard design, Android’s owner decided to get serious about VR design and introduce the Daydream View, its new VR headset compatible with only its Pixel and Pixel XL phones for now.

With Samsung having been at VR for some time along with Google, and with Daydream VR becoming extended to other non-Google Android-powered handsets in 2017, we can take a look at these two headsets to determine which one is best for consumers-at-large. Which should you choose: Google’s Daydream View or Samsung’s Gear VR? Let’s get started below.

Keep in mind that I’m using the White 2015 Gear VR headset to compare to Google’s latest.

Daydream View vs. Gear VR: Phone Tray

The phone tray or phone slot is the location of your smartphone positioned in the front of the VR headset. The Gear VR has a black phone tray cover that can be taken off and reinserted after locking the phone in place. The phone tray can be replaced in the event that you lose the tray cover.

The Daydream View, on the other hand, stays whole by two hinges at the bottom of the headset and a string loop built into the top of the tray cover. My first thought, upon opening the tray area, was “where does one place the Pixel XL?”

Unlike Samsung’s Gear VR, the Daydream View doesn’t have locks to keep the phone in place: you simply place the Pixel phone in the Daydream View and then loop the string on the tray cover to the top of the headset. That’s it. There’s an issue with this: namely, the idea that the Pixel phone could slide out of place while you’re using the device – leading to possible damage or injury to your smartphone. No, I’ve not experienced this, but it is possible.

The piece at the top that holds the string in place can break and render the device unusable. The hinges can also break, which means that the tray, once detached and broken, can’t be upgraded (unlike Samsung’s Gear VR phone tray cover).

Next, there’s the phone tray cover itself. If you sit the Daydream View headset down without the phone, you’ll notice a sizable gap present between the tray cover and the rest of the headset. I turned the headset to show the “G” logo, then placed it in the air. The result is that I could see space in-between the headset and the environment.

This may not seem like much when you’re putting it away, but it’s definitely noticeable when you put on the headset sans the Pixels. The gap was so noticeable that camera flashes could be recognized without taking the headset off by way of the same gap.

The Gear VR has its own “gaps” at the top of the phone tray cover and on the sides of it, but you still can’t see any light coming into the Gear VR when you put it on. One has gaps that bring in light, the other has gaps that don’t affect the general viewing experience at all.

Daydream View vs. Gear VR: Headband Strap 

The headband strap is another area that shows Google and Samsung’s various design approaches. The Google Daydream View has a headband strap sewn in to the clothing material of the headset itself. In contrast, the Samsung Gear VR leaves room for detachable headband straps that let you buy a new one, if need be.

It can be said that most users won’t need a new headband, but things do happen from time to time. Additionally, the headset is one of the most important components of the VR headset: it’s called a “headset” for a reason (because It’s worn on the head). If the headband strap breaks, the headset is, in a phrase, “rendered unusable.”

Daydream View vs. Gear VR: Build Quality

Build quality is yet another area where the Gear VR and Daydream View differ: the Gear VR consists of plastic and velcro while the Daydream View consists of velcro, plastic, and a particular “clothing material,” according to Google (the nature of this clothing material is unknown on its product page). Additionally, Google says the Daydream View is washable, but don’t read too much into it: it basically means that you can hand wash the Daydream View – which is nothing different from what you’d do if you got a pizza stain on the Gear VR. I’m betting you’d need to use some sort of fabric stain remover for the Daydream View, however, should you get tomato paste or chicken soup on it.

Google had in mind the idea of making the VR wearable “fashionable” because it will be worn around the head, but Samsung’s Gear VR seems more practical in this regard. After all, you will not (likely) wear the Daydream View headset all day long, or care about whether or not it matches your brand new outfit if you’re spending the day with friends and family.

Controls

With every VR headset comes the need to control the device, since the smartphone is placed into the headset. Google’s Daydream View has a gesture controller that lets you perform gestures on the Pixels. It also has some touch buttons (including volume up and down buttons), but it’s designed for the use of the trackpad and gesture motions.

Samsung, on the other hand, has designed the Gear VR to be a “VR Galaxy” with the action controller at the right side of the headset. I’ve always been something of a gamer myself, and prefer a specific VR GamePad controller for the 2017 Gear VR headset (Samsung, you can do this!), but the side controls are a nice backup in the event that my controller stops working. With the Daydream View, though, I don’t have a backup plan.

Conclusion 

Google’s serious venture into VR by way of its new Daydream View headset is something to consider for the future. I’m glad that Google has made this leap and wants VR to be the next big thing for its mobile platform, and I’ve found so far that Daydream View is easier to experience with glasses on than Samsung’s Gear VR (I’d like to see Samsung improve the user experience for the more visually challenged among us). At the same time, though, Samsung’s third-generation handset shows that refinement is the path of all companies, no matter how “right” they perceive their first-generation devices to be.

Regardless of my optimism, though, there’s work that remains necessary to make the Daydream View even better than it is now. It has a few problems that can be overlooked if you get the headset for free. If you’re buying it outright, consider the $99 headset instead of the $80 one.

To see just more photos of the Daydream View and the Gear VR, take a look at the photo gallery below.

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Snapdragon 835 specs leak, could see Galaxy S8 landing at MWC 2017

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, the successor to the incremental Snapdragon 821, was first leaked by Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin (who called the end of Google’s Nexus line long before the Pixels) and has now been confirmed by both Qualcomm and Samsung. With that said, the immediate question pertains to the imminent SoCs arrival on the market, specifically with Samsung’s 2017 Galaxy S8 launch in a few months. While there’s still some speculation as to it all, the SoC’s specs have leaked online – giving the Snapdragon 835 a Galaxy S8 landing.

According to the Snapdragon 835 spec sheet, the upcoming Qualcomm SoC will have model number MSM8998, slightly ahead of the current Snapdragon 821 SoC (model number MSM8996) and have an octa-core CPU (in contrast to the Snapdragon 821′s quad-core setup), Adreno 540 GPU, UFS 2.1 technology (as opposed to UFS 2.0), and be produced based on a 10nm FinFET process that the company unveiled six months ago. If the 10nm FinFET leak is true, then the 6GB RAM claim for the Galaxy S8 will bring 6GB of RAM worldwide.

Finally, the spec sheet claims that the new Snapdragon 835 will be released in Q1 2017, with a Galaxy S8 landing at MWC 2017. There’s little in the way of confirmation regarding any of this, but specs leaked from China are often accurate (remember the 6GB RAM Galaxy Note 7 that Samsung later acknowledged?). Still, as with everything else initially, take this with some salt for now.

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The Galaxy A7 (2017) might not be released in Europe

We exclusively reported a few months back that Samsung is working on the 2017 iteration of the Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7. The company is yet to confirm when these handsets will be released but we’ve heard a lot of rumors about them over the past couple of weeks. A new report suggests that the Galaxy A7 (2017) may not be released in Europe. That really won’t be too surprising when you consider the fact that the Galaxy A7 (2016) wasn’t released in Europe as well.

When the original Galaxy A series was launched back in 2015 all three models made their way to Europe. Things changed with the 2016 iteration when Samsung decided to limit it to the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 in Europe. From the looks of it the company is going to take a similar step for the 2017 iteration as well.

A list on Samsung Austria’s official website mentions the devices that the Gear S3 is compatible with. The list includes the Galaxy A3 (2017) and Galaxy A5 (2017) but not the Galaxy A7 (2017). This goes to show that there’s a possibility that the top-of-the-line version might not be released in Europe. That’s because Austria almost always gets all devices that are meant for a wider release across the continent.

The Galaxy A7 (2017) is expected to feature a Samsung Exynos 7870 processor with 3GB RAM and 64GB of storage. It’s also said to have a 16-megapixel camera on the front aside from a 5.5-cinh full HD Super AMOLED display.

Samsung is yet to confirm when the 2017 iteration of the Galaxy A series will be released.

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Daily Deal: Snag yourself a Gear S2 for just $224.99

If you’re in the market for a new smartwatch and aren’t too fussed about having the latest device on the market, you may want to listen up as we have a great deal for you. While stock lasts, you can pick up a brand new Gear S2 with a Sport strap for just $224.99, which is a total saving of $75.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the Gear S2 isn’t good value because it’s faced a price cut as that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s actually an incredibly powerful device that features accurate health tracking functionality and 4GB of on board storage, which is enough space for up to 300 songs.

If you like the sound of the Gear S2 and want to take advantage of this promotion, hit the Buy Now button below. We strongly advise you to hurry, though, as Amazon only has a limited amount of inventory available for this specific deal, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Buy Now

Note: This deal is only available in the US.

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Galaxy A5 (2017) to be available in four colors when it finally hits the shelves

We’ve heard an awful lot about the Galaxy A5 (2017) over the course of the past few weeks. We first caught wind of the handset when we exclusively reported that Samsung was working on refreshing its Galaxy A lineup, then shortly after the device broke cover in a handful of leaked images and design renders.

Now, however, it’s been suggested that the Galaxy A5 (2017) will be available in four colors — Black, Blue, Gold and Pink — when it launches. It’s unclear whether the hues will match up to the options offered for the Galaxy S7, but we’re hoping they do as it would be great to see Samsung introduce a Blue Coral variant of a mid-range smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) SM-A520 will launch in the amazing color choice of Black, Gold, Pink and Blue. Wow.

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) November 22, 2016

As far as specifications go, recent leaks, rumors and speculation point towards the Galaxy A5 (2017) packing a 5.2-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, an Exynos 7880 processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable memory (up to 256GB via microSD), a 13MP rear-facing camera and a 3,000mAh non-removable battery.

Fortunately, it doesn’t look like we’re going to have to wait much longer for Samsung to announce the Galaxy A5 (2017) as it’s already been granted Bluetooth and Wi-Fi certification, which means the only remaining pitstop it has to make before it hits the shelves is the FCC.

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