الأحد، 15 يناير 2017

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 investigation finds culprit, full report coming January 23

Samsung has conducted a detailed investigation to ascertain the culprit behind the Galaxy Note 7 fires. The company said earlier this month that it’s going to make the full report public very soon. Reuters reports, citing a person familiar with the matter, that Samsung’s investigation has concluded that the battery was the main cause of the Galaxy Note 7 fires.

The source adds that Samsung has been able to replicate the fire during its investigation and that it has concluded that the battery is the culprit because the cause of the fires could not be explained by any flaws in hardware design or software. Samsung is due to make the full report public on January 23 just one day before it releases the detailed fourth quarter earnings results. The report also mentions that the head of Samsung’s mobile business Dong-jin Koh will announce the Q4 2016 results and will detail the measures Samsung has taken to prevent similar problems from occurring in future devices.

It’s also crucial for Samsung to close this chapter once and for all before it starts off with a clean slate for the Galaxy S8. It would surely be hoping that none of the bad press associated with the Galaxy Note 7 tries to steal the Galaxy S8′s thunder.



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Arrest warrant sought for Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-yong

Samsung’s top leadership has been grilled extensively by special prosecutors in South Korea who are investigating allegations of bribery and corruption to gain influence through Choi Soon-sil, a close personal friend of President Park Geun-hye who has now been impeached. Samsung is accused of having given more than $25 million in bribes to foundations and companies run by Choi Soon-sil in exchange for influence.

Prosecutors recently questioned Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-yong for 22 hours about his company’s role in the scandal. He has already denied bribery allegations in an appearance before the country’s parliament last month. South Korea’s special prosecutor said that they would also take into account the potential economic impact of arresting Lee Jae-yong and it appears that they’re convinced that it would be manageable which is why they have now sought an arrest warrant for the Samsung vice chairman.

The warrant has to be approved by a South Korean court before it can be used to arrest him. This will enable the special prosecutors to continue with their investigation while Lee Jae-yong is detained. It doesn’t necessarily mean formal charges will be filed and an indictment will follow. The court is going to conduct a hearing on Wednesday to decide on the matter of approving the warrant.

Samsung has not yet commented on this latest development.



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Galaxy J7 (2017) listing on Geekbench reveals specs and Android Nougat

About a month ago, we reported that the 2017 variant of the Samsung Galaxy J7 received Wi-Fi certification and that the documentation revealed the device to be running Android 7.0 Nougat. If you needed further validation, the Galaxy J7 (2017) was recently spotted on Geekbench and was also listed running Android 7.0 Nougat.

According to Tech Times, someone ran a prototype of the device on Geekbench with model number SM-J727P. The handset recorded a single-core score of 889 and a multi-core score of 4200. The test also provided some insight into the official specs. The Galaxy J7 (2017) is listed to be powered by an octa-core Qualcomm processor clocking in at 2.21 GHz and will have 2GB of RAM.

Previous rumors have the smartphone sporting a 5.5-inch Full HD display, an Adreno GPU, a 3,000mAh removable battery, a 13-megapixel rear snapper, and a 5-megapixel selfie camera. Additionally, it is expected to offer 16GB of internal storage with the ability to expand memory via microSD. With the Geekbench listing showing 2GB of RAM, it squashes the previous rumor of the device having an upgraded 3GB of RAM, although the Chinese variant could feature higher RAM like the 2016 iteration of the Galaxy J7.

In the US, it is expected to be carried by Verizon Wireless. However, there is still no concrete release date at this time.

Galaxy J7 2017 Geekbench



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Déjà vu: the Galaxy S8 with an S Pen accessory is nothing new

The Galaxy S8 will have an S Pen accessory, or a stylus accessory of some kind as an external writing instrument. And it is interesting that this report about the S Pen leaked at the same exact time that critics were playing up fears that Samsung would do away with the Galaxy Note line and brand. This is no surprise: the same critics have been saying the same thing since the first Galaxy Note 7 recall. The goal, as always, is to force consumers into making a decision that they would later regret.

The S Pen as an accessory with the Galaxy S8 had some consumers concerned that Samsung would do away with the Galaxy Note 8 series. Well, that claim has now been substantiated for what it is – nothing more than a false hope. The Galaxy Note 8 will arrive this Fall, as has been the custom for the Korean giant’s most prestigious phablet series, and Note fans know the phone that rules the day for them. But, what has been hidden through all the false claims of an abandoned Note series is that Samsung has implemented stylus accessories before, but none of these ever led to the death of the Galaxy Note series.

Galaxy S3 C Pen

The earliest evidence I’ve been able to gather regarding a stylus accessory for the Galaxy S line has been with the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy S4. First, Samsung provided a C Pen (it wasn’t called an S Pen) for the Galaxy S3 (via Amazon), and MobileFun offered Samsung’s genuine C Pen for both the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4. I purchased the C Pen for my Galaxy S3, but the phone only had a basic notetaking app that appeared as a basic legal notepad – nothing more.

Cross ballpoint pen

As for the Galaxy S5, Samsung didn’t have a specific C Pen that worked similarly to that of the Galaxy S3, but the company had partnered with Cross to bring a ballpoint pen that doubled as a digital stylus. This ballpoint pen would work with practically any Samsung Galaxy smartphone, but it appears as though there was some demand for it to work with the Galaxy S5 that was also announced in early 2014. The fact that the pen and the Galaxy S5 were not announced together demonstrates that the external pen was not designed to imitate the Galaxy Note series.

EJ-PW700 Bluetooth C Pen

One year ago, we leaked an exclusive about a new Ballpoint pen/ C Pen stylus that works for paper and digital screens though it was designed for the Galaxy TabPro S Windows tablet. This new ballpoint pen/stylus may indeed be used with any Samsung device (including the Galaxy S7 edge, for example), but again, it has been designed as an external accessory that wouldn’t necessarily convert the Galaxy S7 edge or even the Galaxy S8 into an upcoming Note 8.

S Pen cover

Finally, there is further evidence that this external S Pen accessory will arrive to market, and it pertains to the fact that just a year ago, Samsung patented an S Pen cover with a built-in S Pen that would work for any Galaxy smartphone. Perhaps Samsung is deliberating whether or not to bring this to the forefront of the Galaxy S series. If so, Samsung could offer the case as a separate accessory alongside of a capacitive stylus. Even then, though, the company still intends to bring out a Galaxy Note 8 – so the stylus alone isn’t enough to make Samsung abandon the Note brand and series.

Conclusion 

Galaxy S3 C Pen poster

These are but a few cases, but it goes to show that Samsung has always concerned itself with offering digital writing options for those that prefer a smaller device than the Note but want to at least have a stylus handy for rare occasions. And yet, Samsung has never, at any time, used the existence of a stylus for its other Galaxy smartphones as a means to eliminate the Galaxy Note series. It’s déjà vu, something we’ve already seen; because it’s nothing new, our response should be nothing new as well.

This isn’t to say that Samsung can’t do something new and bring added functionality with the S Pen, because it can. Samsung has sovereignty over its products to do whatever it wants to with devices that bear its name. At the same time, however, since Samsung can change its mind at any moment (and has made some last-minute changes for its high-end smartphones before), we only have past events to go on. And, from what the past shows us, there is little justification to assume the Galaxy S8 S Pen accessory indicates the death of the Note line.

The Galaxy S8 S Pen accessory story was meant to be a reason to celebrate, but it has been used as a tool of mass hysteria to provoke Note fans to assume the worst. When journalism does its homework by examining Samsung’s history, the S Pen accessory can be seen for what it is: a way to provide more choice without eliminating what remains to this day the most prestigious smartphone series the market has ever seen.



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South Korea has to worry about the economic impact of arresting Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-yong

Samsung is embroiled in the influence-peddling scandal that has resulted in the impeachment of the country’s president. Prosecutors have been investigating allegations of Samsung giving more than $25 million in bribes to companies and foundations run by President Park Geun-hye’s friend Choi Soon-sil in exchange for influence that was crucial in getting a controversial merger of two Samsung affiliates approved.

Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, the conglomerate’s heir apparent, was questioned for over 22 hours about these allegations recently. The country’s special prosecutor will take a decision tomorrow about whether or not he should be arrested but the prosecutor has said that the economic impact of this move will be taken into account before warrants are issued.

Lee Jae-yong is the third generation leader of South Korea’s largest conglomerate which also happens to be one of the biggest companies on the planet. Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman for the special prosecution, said that given the gravity of this case the investigators are looking at all possible factors including the economic impact of the arrest of the Samsung vice chairman.

It will be confirmed tomorrow whether or not the special prosecution will go for the arrest of Lee Jae-yong who denied bribery accusations during a hearing before the country’s parliament last month. No one can’t predict how the market will react to the news if the arrest is sought, for all we know, investors may not like it.



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