Vodafone starts rolling out January security patch for the Galaxy A5 (2016) in Europe

Vodafone has today started distributing this month’s security patch for all its carrier-branded variants of the Galaxy A5 (2016) sold in Europe. For those unaware, the upgrade — dated January 1, 2017 – addresses a total of 67 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) in the Android OS and an additional 28 patches for Samsung’s latest smartphones. As we’ve come to expect, this release is being rolled out to compatible handsets in stages....

Samsung is doubling down on product safety for the Galaxy S8

Samsung has officially confirmed the reasons why the Galaxy Note 7 had the tendency to catch fire and it has also promised to ensure that customers don’t have to go through something like this ever again. The company wants to put the Galaxy Note 7 behind it and come out swinging for the fences with the Galaxy S8 which it hopes will reinforce its image as an innovation leader and help regain lost consumer confidence in the company’s products. The...

Some Galaxy S7 edge owners are experiencing an irritating display issue

Some Galaxy S7 edge owners are reporting that an irremovable vertical pink line has appeared on their device’s display, reveals technology blog Myce. The issue, which dates back to as early as March 2016, has been reported a number of times on various forums and social channels, including reddit. Unfortunately, it’s unknown why exactly the line surfaces, but users who have experienced...

Samsung ties up with Swedish firm IMINT for video stabilization and optimization technologies

Samsung has signed an agreement with Swedish firm IMINT to use its video stabilization technologies in the upcoming products. Don’t get too excited too fast. The agreement specifically excludes the use of these video optimization technologies in Samsung’s smartphones. IMINT, which stands for Image Intelligence, is a software and aerospace firm that’s specialized in video analytics, enhancement, and optimization. The company’s product Vidhance offers...

Here’s why you should upgrade your Samsung Z1 to Tizen 2.4

A little less than a year ago, the long-awaited Tizen 2.4 update finally started making its way to the Samsung Z1 in Bangladesh, India and a handful of other regions. It’s been revealed by Samsung, however, that an eye-watering 46% of all Z1′s in the wild are still running Tizen 2.3, which sparks the question: “Why aren’t people keen to upgrade?” To help sway their hand, the good folks over at Tizen Experts put together a list of all the...

Samsung SDI plans to invest $128 million to improve battery safety after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco

Samsung SDI manufactured and supplied the first batch of batteries for the Galaxy Note 7, and Samsung announced yesterday that faulty batteries were causing fire and explosion in the smartphone. Samsung SDI has now announced that it will invest 150 billion won (approx. $128.31 million) to improve battery safety after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. The company has also set up an emergency situation room at the Cheonan plant in South Chungcheong Province...

Samsung’s aiming to start producing 7nm class chipsets in early 2018

If a new report originating from South Korea is anything to go by, it would appear that Samsung is aiming to start producing 7nm class chipsets in early 2018. It’s believed that the firm has introduced extreme Ultraviolet Exposure Equipment (EUV) in the logic process to help secure the competitiveness of the 7nm chip in terms of performance and power consumption. “We expect 7nm technology to be challenging for all of the patterning scaling....

Samsung forcing rivals to use older processors by hoarding Snapdragon 835 supply

A new report published and corroborated by multiple sources today claims that Samsung is hoarding the bulk of the Snapdragon 835′s supply and is thus essentially forcing its competitors to use the older Snapdragon 821 processor for their new smartphones. Qualcomm’s next-generation processor is being manufactured by Samsung and it’s highly likely that the Galaxy S8 will be the first smartphone to tout the new silicon. The report mentions that Samsung...

Samsung reveals its strategy to grow smartphone business in 2017

Samsung posted its full Q4 2016 earnings today. Despite taking a hit due to the Galaxy Note 7 recall, the company’s IT and Mobile Communications division posted an operating profit of 2.50 trillion won ($2.14 billion) on consolidated revenues of 23.61 trillion won for the final quarter of last year. It says that the fourth quarter saw higher market demand for smartphones and tablets due to the holiday season. The mobile business did post an earnings...