New application suggests that Samsung’s working on a Windows 10-powered Galaxy Book

Over the weekend, an application — called Book Settings — prematurely surfaced on the Windows Store, which suggests that Samsung’s working on yet another Windows 10-powered machine. Information included in the app’s description reveals that the device will carry the moniker Galaxy Book and sport a slew of neat features, including an active pen and AMOLED display.

Back in 2012, Samsung filed a trademark for the Galaxy Book branding. It was reserved for use on tablet computers, MP3 players, mobile phones, and smartphones — so we’re hoping to see a Surface Book-like device hit the market, complete with a detachable display and a neat folding hinge, though the design will have to be completely unique as Microsoft has patented the specification for its neat dynamic fulcrum hinge.

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Next Gear VR might come with a dedicated controller

A leaked render that appeared last year pointed towards the possibility of Samsung releasing a dedicated controller for the Gear VR. It is now being said that Samsung will unveil a new Gear VR next month that is designed to work with the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. According to the information, the new VR headset looks similar to the current-generation Gear VR (SM-R323) but comes with minor changes in the design and feature set.

According to Roland Quandt’s (@rquandt) tweet, the new Gear VR will bear the model number SM-R324, and it will feature a new front cover that can hold the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. Moreover, the tweet suggests that the new VR headset might come with “a single hand controller”. It could be similar to the wireless controller that comes bundled with Google’s Daydream View VR headset, which makes gaming, multimedia playback, and usage of VR apps easier.

As of now, users need to buy a separate Bluetooth controller to play complex games on the Gear VR, but if the new information turns out to be true, it will become easier to enjoy content and games out of the box.

Samsung Gear VR SM-R324 is coming – same as SM-R323 for S7, but gets different front cover to hold Galaxy S8 – and a single hand controller.

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) February 20, 2017

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Samsung’s next smartphone chipset could be named Exynos 9810

Samsung recently teased its upcoming Exynos 9 series chipset, which would most probably debut with the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. Now, information regarding the possible name of the chipset has surfaced the Internet. According to the information available on the LinkedIn profile of an intern at Samsung’s Bangalore R&D Institute, the next Exynos processor could be named Exynos 9810.

According to a speculation by industry insiders, there could be two variants of the Exynos 9810 chipset: Exynos 9810V and Exynos 9810M. The Exynos 9810V could feature an eighteen-core Mali-G71 GPU while the Exynos 9810M could feature a 20-core Mali-G71 GPU. The next Exynos chipset is said to feature Mongoose M2 CPU cores, an upgrade from last year’s Exynos M1 CPU cores.

Similar to the Snapdragon 835, the Exynos 9 series chipset is said to be built using Samsung’s 10nm FinFET technology. However, it remains to be seen how it would compete with the Snapdragon 835 SoC from Qualcomm, the upcoming Kirin 970 chipset from Huawei, and the Apple A10 Fusion chipset in terms of raw performance.

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Samsung takes a big step on the road to commercial 5G

Samsung has been working very hard over the past few years for the commercialization of next-generation 5G networks and the company has announced that it has now taken a big step on the road to commercial 5G. Samsung has announced the commercial readiness of its 5G RF Integrated Circuit (RFIC) which is an important component that will be used in the production and commercialization of next-generation base station and other radio access products.

“We’re excited to finally bring all the pieces together and announce this important milestone on the path to commercial 5G. This will have a big role to play in the upcoming connectivity revolution,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Executive Vice President and Head of Next Generation Communications Business Team at Samsung Electronics.

The new RFIC was announced by Samsung at a 5G mobile technologies workshop. It gave details about the development and the strengths of the chip and also outlined its role in the roadmap to commercial 5G products. The chip has been designed to “greatly strengthen” the overall performance of 5G access units. Samsung has particularly focused on designing it for low cost, high efficiency and compact form factors. The chip uses a high-gain/high-efficiency power amplifier that Samsung unveiled in June last year.

This enables the RFIC to provide extended coverage in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band, overcoming a big challenge of high-frequency spectrum. It also provides improved transmission and reception performance. The RFIC is destined for use in the 28GHz mmWave spectrum band, making it a primary target for early 5G deployments in marks like the United States, Japan and South Korea. Now that development on the chip is complete, Samsung is going to accelerate its plans for 5G commercial product readiness and expects to announce the first RFIC-equipped solutions by early next year.

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It’s business as usual at Samsung despite vice chairman’s arrest

Samsung Electronics vice chairman and the conglomerate’s heir Lee Jae-yong was arrested earlier this week as the investigation into South Korea’s influence-peddling scandal continues. His sudden arrest has left a leadership vacuum at the company but Samsung says that despite his arrest, it’s going to be business as usual at the conglomerate.

Lee Jae-yong appeared before the special prosecutor’s team today for further questioning after spending the night in a jail cell. The team is expected to continue questioning him until February 28. They will be focusing on allegations that Lee paid more than $35 million in bribes to a close friend of President Park Geun-hye in return for the government’s support.

According to a report out of Korea, the management at Samsung remains on high alert following the arrest of their leader. The company says that day-to-day operations will be run by professional managers. “Daily operations of Samsung Electronics and its affiliates will not be affected by the arrest because they are run by professional CEOs” said a Samsung future strategy office spokesperson. The office serves as the control tower of the conglomerate and was on duty over the weekend.

Simply put, just because Lee Jae-yong has been arrested doesn’t mean that Samsung will suddenly take a break from everything. It’s a very, very big company that has competent people in its ranks to keep the ship steady through these troubled waters.

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Harman International merger with Samsung Electronics approved by shareholders

Samsung Electronics announced in November last year that it had decided to acquire Harman International for $8 billion. This acquisition gives Samsung access to Harman’s automotive business as well as its premium audio brands which include Bang & Olufsen, Harman Kardon, JBL, and more. There was some pushback from minority investors who felt that the price was too low. Some even filed a lawsuit against Harman’s CEO for deciding to sell the company at a price that they perceived to be lower than what the company was actually worth.

However, despite those concerns and the troubles that Samsung is going through these days, Harman International shareholders have voted in favor of the acquisition. This means that a major hurdle is now out of Samsung’s way as it seeks to close this deal in the coming months.

A regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission confirms that 70.78 percent of Harman’s common shares – 49,460,322 out of 69,883,605 shares – were represented at the shareholders meeting either in person or through proxies. 46,921,832 shares were in favor of the acquisition, 2,107,178 against with 431,312 abstentions.

With the shareholder approval now out of the way, the acquisition now requires an approval by antitrust authorities in the United States, South Korea, China and the European Union. Samsung plans on closing this deal by the third quarter this year.

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Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge Nougat update released by AT&T

Owners of Samsung’s 2016 smartphones in the United States have anxiously been waiting for their carriers to release the Nougat update that Samsung started rolling out for the international unlocked variant of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge in the second week of January. T-Mobile started pushing out the update earlier this week, and the wait ends today for AT&T subscribers.

The second largest carrier in the United States has finally released Android 7.0 Nougat for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge. AT&T’s support pages for the two devices hasn’t been updated with information on the Nougat update, but it is rolling out over the air for many users and should soon be available to every Galaxy S7 and S7 edge owner on the carrier’s network.

Nougat brings more than a few changes for the devices, including but not limited to user interface tweaks, several new features and overall system and performance enhancements. If you’re curious to find out more, don’t forget to check out our What’s New With Nougat series and also see a few tips and tricks to get the most out of your device and the latest iteration of the OS.

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