Samsung might be the exclusive OLED display supplier for the iPhone 8

It has long been rumored that the iPhone 8 is going to feature an OLED display, if that is the case, it would be the first iPhone to adopt OLED displays. Rumors have suggested that Samsung Display might be one of the suppliers but if a new report out of South Korea is believed, Samsung Display might actually be the exclusive supplier of OLED displays for the iPhone 8 for at least two years.

Samsung Display already has a monopoly in the smartphone OLED market as it holds a market share of more than 95 percent. There is no other display manufacturer that can manufacture curved OLED panels on the scale that Samsung can. Since iPhones tend to sell very well, Apple would certainly opt for a supplier that’s able to meet high demand and at this point in time that supplier is Samsung Display.

LG Display and Japan Display are both working on setting up their own smartphone OLED production lines. While they will be investing a significant amount of money in this endeavor, it will take time for them to achieve the scale that Samsung Display already has. Samsung is actually expected to invest more than $12 billion on smartphone OLED manufacturing facilities over the next couple of years, more than what both of its rivals will spend.

Samsung Display has already been supplying curved OLED displays to Samsung Electronics for its smartphones so it’s quite ahead of its rivals on this front, so it would make perfect sense for Apple to pick Samsung Display as its main supplier of curved OLED displays.

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Samsung will reportedly source Galaxy Note 8 batteries from rival LG

The first few incidents of the Galaxy Note 7 catching fire were attributed to faulty battery cells supplied by Samsung SDI – the conglomerate’s battery division – but we later found out that this wasn’t the case. Galaxy Note 7 units with batteries from another supplier caught fire in the same manner. Samsung stopped sourcing batteries for the flagship from its associated company and if a new report is to be believed, it may turn to its rival for Galaxy Note 8 batteries.

According to a report out of Korea, Samsung Electronics is thinking about sourcing batteries for its smartphones from LG Chem. It might start doing that with the Galaxy Note 8 next year. Samsung is said to be discussing potential deals with battery suppliers since the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco earlier this year. It’s also said to be in talks with China’s ATL which was the second battery supplier for the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung is also said to be in talks with LG Chem, its rival’s battery division. An industry source cited in the report adds that “The talks have not yet been completed but it seems highly likely for the two firms to sign a deal.”

Given that designing, testing and producing batteries takes time, sources mentioned in the report suggest that LG Chem might start supplying batteries for the Galaxy Note 8 which isn’t due until next year. Samsung hasn’t leaned on rival LG for parts often but it’s said to be in the process of diversifying its suppliers post-Galaxy Note 7. Samsung is also believed to be sourcing LCD displays for TVs from LG Display after Sharp announced that it would no longer supply Samsung with LCD panels.

Samsung has not officially commented on this report.

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Galaxy S8 price expected to be increased by up to 20 percent

The Galaxy S8 is going to be a very important smartphone for Samsung. Think of it as the comeback flagship, Samsung has a point to prove with the Galaxy S8 following the disaster that was the Galaxy Note 7. From what we’ve heard so far, the Galaxy S8 is shaping up to be one heck of a device, but at what cost?

Goldman Sachs, a financial institution that needs no introduction, has a view that raw material cost for the Galaxy S8 is going to rise 15-20 percent compared to the cost for the Galaxy S7. It believes that if this is really the case we can expect to see an increase in the Galaxy S8 price for retail customers. Goldman Sachs also predicts that Samsung is going to introduce an AI-based digital assistant with the Galaxy S8, that’s something that has already been rumored multiple times over the past few months.

Would Samsung charge more for the Galaxy S8 particularly when it has to make up for the losses caused by the Galaxy Note 7? It’s too soon to say for sure right now. Samsung is due to unveil the Galaxy S8 at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in February.

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New Samsung Notebook 9 features a sleek and lightweight design

Samsung has launched a refreshed lineup of the Notebook 9 today. The new notebook features a sleek and lightweight design with advanced features that promise the best in performance, connectivity and security.

At 1.8 pounds, the Samsung Notebook 9 13.3-inch is the lightest notebook on the market, according to the company. This makes the notebook very portable and easy to carry in a backpack. Both the 13.3-inch and the 15-inch Full HD display models feature an ultra-slim bezel and near edge-to-edge display which maximizes screen real estate. The display is capable of reclining 180° to make the notebook more versatile. Samsung says that the Notebook 8 features added resiliency, integrity and thermal and shock resistant thanks to its single shell body and Micro Arc Oxidation Rigidity technology.

Samsung Notebook 9 is powered by the latest 7th Generation Intel Core i5/i7 processors with faster storage and memory. The company promises 7 hours of use on a single charge with Adaptive Fast Charge that can fully fuel the notebook in 80. Users can get 2.1 hours of power in 20 minutes.

Additional features include a USB Type-C port for faster data transfer, built-in fingerprint sensor with support for Windows Hello biometric authentication, 720p webcam, 802.11ac 2X2 Wi-Fi, 1.5WX2 speakers and more.

Pricing and availability details haven’t been confirmed yet.

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Oculus Rooms and Parties bring VR social experiences to the Gear VR

Oculus unveiled a couple of new VR social features at its annual developer conference a couple of months back. Rooms is simply a virtual reality space in which people can hang out with their VR avatars while Parties provides built-in voice chat functionality. As you might remember, the Gear VR headset is a collaboration between Samsung and Oculus so even though these features won’t be released for the Oculus Rift headset until next year, Oculus Rooms and Parties VR social features are now available for the Gear VR.

Gear VR users will find that Parties is quite similar to conventional chat apps. It displays a list of their friends and shows who is online. Users need to tap on the Party tab, choose who they want to add and then tap “Start a Party” to chat with their friends. If they get invited to a party, joining only requires a single tap. The Parties feature only allows users to chat with up to four people but this number might be increased at some point down the road.

The Rooms VR experience can be launched from within the Parties interface. Users get to interact with the VR avatars of their friends in an immersive environment. Users can change the appearance of their avatars in Rooms, play simple games with their friends’ avatars or just explore the immersive environment.

Oculus Rooms and Parties VR social experiences are now live for the Gear VR.

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Samsung reportedly knows the cause of Galaxy Note 7 fires

Ever since it announced that the Galaxy Note 7 was being recalled for good and that the handset had been discontinued, Samsung promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the fires and reveal the results to the public. The company later reiterated its commitment to the investigation and promised to have the results out before the end of this year. According to a new report, Samsung has completed its investigation into the Galaxy Note 7 fires and now knows why its ill-fated flagship was going up in flames.

According to the report, Samsung has completed its internal investigation into the matter and has now sent the report to the Korea Testing Laboratory and the American safety organization UL. The report is yet to be made public but if the investigation really has been concluded and Samsung is confident of the findings, it shouldn’t take too long now before the report is released to the public at large.

When Samsung first recalled the Galaxy Note 7 a couple of weeks after it was released, the company blamed a battery supplier for supplying faulty cells. It assured customers that the supplier’s cells would no longer be used and that the replacement units it was sending out were perfectly safe. As it turned out, they weren’t. Replacement units also started catching fire and repeated incidents forced Samsung to pull the plug on what might have been one of the best-selling smartphones it has ever made.

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Logo registration confirms Samsung Experience branding for the user interface

Samsung last used the TouchWiz branding for its custom Android user interface with the Galaxy S2. It renamed it to Nature UX with the Galaxy S3 but TouchWiz stuck around nonetheless. Samsung didn’t concern itself with naming the user interface for the past few years but it’s switching gears with Android 7.0. We recently reported that the latest beta of Nougat for the Galaxy S7 renames the user interface to Samsung Experience. The company’s latest logo registration filing confirms that it’s now going to call its custom Android user interface Samsung Experience.

Samsung has filed for a trademark in the European Union for Samsung Experience, the filing also reveals the logo that it’s going to use. The application was filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office and it mentions that the main product category covered is smartphones.

This really makes it official that from now on, Samsung’s custom Android skin is going to be called Samsung Experience. That’s how it’s going to be referred with Nougat and major updates that come after it. The most recent Nougat beta for the Galaxy S7 brought Samsung Experience version 8 and it remains to be seen whether the version number will be bumped up when Nougat is publicly released.

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Samsung offers Galaxy Game Pack as a holiday gift to Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge owners

Do you happen to own a Galaxy S7 or a Galaxy S7 edge? If you do then pay attention. Samsung is offering an exclusive Galaxy Game Pack as a holiday gift to those who own any one of the aforementioned devices. The Galaxy Game Pack provides in-game premium content for 14 popular mobile games. It has created this gift in collaboration with mobile game developers like Super Evil Megacorp, Gameloft, Ubisoft, and EA.

The Galaxy Game Pack for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge provides users with free credits, coins, cards, add-ons and more for 14 popular mobile games such as Empire: Four Kingdoms, Asphalt 8: Airborne, Plants vs Zombies Heroes, Need for Speed: No Limits and others. All of the premium content is being dished out for free via the Google Play Store.

Check out the video posted below to find out what incentive is being offered for the 14 games covered in this pack. Hit the source below to get the download links for the free content.

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Buy one Galaxy S7 on AT&T and get the other for free

It’s that time of the year when we pick out gifts for our loved ones and Samsung flagship smartphones tend to make pretty nice gifts. AT&T is back with a buy-one-get-one-free promotion for the Galaxy S7. Customers who buy a new Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge or Galaxy S7 Active from AT&T stand to receive a second unit of the same device for free. AT&T will refund the cost of the second device in bill credits over 30 months.

The first device has to be purchased on the AT&T Next or AT&T Next Every Year plan. Customers will have to pay tax on full retail on purchase and they will also have to get service on both devices. If service is canceled they will own remaining installment balance on the second device. This promotion is being offered to all new and existing customers. Those who switch to AT&T and trade-in their current smartphone will get up to $650 in credits per line to help them switch carriers.

Don’t forget to read the fine print carefully before you decided to take advantage of this offer. AT&T’s latest BOGO offer for the Galaxy S7 runs through December 24th.

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Samsung Notes update brings support for Android 7.0 Nougat

Those using the Nougat beta on their Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge should now be able to access the Samsung Notes app, which has received an update that brings support for the latest version of Android. Those on Android 6.0 Marshmallow won’t be seeing this update on the Play Store. In addition to Nougat support, the update also adds the ability to use a smaller Samsung Notes home screen widget and a “color extraction function.”

Samsung Notes debuted as a streamlined, all-in-one notes app with the Galaxy Note 7 and has since been released for all Galaxy devices launched after the Galaxy S6. Android 7.0 support should be making its way to more Samsung apps in the coming weeks as we get closer to an official release of the Nougat upgrade; if you haven’t already, do check our What’s New With Nougat series to find out what it will bring to your Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

Thanks, Volkan!

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