Unlocked Galaxy smartphones will now receive monthly security updates in the US

One of the reasons why people buy a smartphone unlocked and off-contract is that they want to receive firmware updates quickly since mobile carriers tend to delay updates because of the tests they run. Unlocked units also don’t have all of the bloatware that you find on carrier versions. However, many who own unlocked Galaxy smartphones in the United States have been left feeling that they’ve been handed the short end of the stick.

Take the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge for example. Unlocked variants of both handsets were released in the United States but they last received an update in December 2016 and are still on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow while almost all major carriers in the United States has already released Android 7.0 Nougat for the 2016 flagships. Carriers have even moved on to rolling out Nougat for the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge in Europe.

Jason Cipriani over at ZDNet reached out to Samsung for clarification on the company’s approach to security updates for unlocked devices in the United States. While apologizing for the inconvenience, Samsung explained that due to “various circumstances,” it has been releasing security updates for unlocked Galaxy devices in the country on a quarterly basis.

The company adds that it has now “resolved the challenges” and is now committed to releasing security updates for unlocked devices on a monthly basis. Samsung is planning to release this month’s security update for unlocked handsets soon and wants users to rest assured that the update will have all security patches to date.

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SamMobile Daily Recap: March 13, 2017 — Galaxy S8, Gear 360 and more!

We publish a fair few of stories on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the bulk of the news breaks during our European hours of operation, which makes it difficult for our readers in the US (and other regions) to follow every post that goes live on SamMobile. But, we think we’ve come up with a solution — a daily recap.

In the list below, you’ll find the stories we’ve published today. Chances are, you’re not going to be interested in all of them. To help you find what’s important to you, we’ve split them into their respective categories — so if you want to see the latest Galaxy news, locate the Phones subheading.

Camera

‘Next Gear 360′ possibly coming soon

Deals

Daily Deal: Save 60% on a 64GB EVO microSD card

Firmware News

Galaxy S5 Neo March security patch released

Rogers Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge Nougat update will be released on March 20

Phones

Galaxy S8 certified by China’s product quality testing agency

Galaxy S8 Plus 3,500mAh battery possibly leaked

Galaxy S8 specs and April 21 release date predicted by renowned analyst

Samsung discounts AT&T Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge by $200, throws in 128GB memory card

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 teaser was the most-watched corporate brand video last week

Samsung releases Galaxy S8 TV ad early, likely a result of impressive LG G6 sales figures

Virtual Reality

Gear VR gameplay can now be streamed to Facebook Live

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Galaxy S8 launcher and app icons surface online

You may have read our what to expect from the Galaxy S8 article by now which tells you almost everything that you need to know about the upcoming flagship. However, we’ll continue to see new stuff related to the handset until it’s officially announced in a couple of weeks. One of our readers has shared some images of the Galaxy S8 launcher and updated app icons with us.

According to the reader, these screenshots of the Galaxy S8 launcher and app icons were discovered inside the APK of the latest version of Samsung’s Smart Switch application. They’re not that high quality but they do give us an idea of what to expect as far as the look and feel of the new flagship’s user interface is concerned.

The Galaxy S8 will surely be running Android 7.0 Nougat when it’s released next month. We can see that Samsung will be sticking with its clean and simple user interface that it really embraced with the Samsung Experience skin for Android 7.0 Nougat.

Samsung is due to unveil the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus on March 29.

Thanks, Durim!

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Nougat update finally arriving on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge in India

Samsung is finally pushing out the long-awaited Nougat update for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge in India. As expected, the upgrade bundles all of the stock features baked into Android 7.0, in addition to a multitude of additional bug fixes, speed optimizations and stability improvements.

This news comes shortly after an identical release was distributed in Europe, following what felt like endless delays — so it’s certainly nice to see Samsung deliver on its promise to push Nougat to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, even if it is likely their last major OS upgrade.

Thanks, Alekh!

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Daily Deal: Save 60% on a 64GB EVO microSD card

While stock lasts, you can bag yourself a 64GB EVO microSD card for $24.28 (60% off). That’s a fantastic price to pay for a chip that not only offers super snappy transfer speeds, but is also waterproof and resistant to extreme temperatures.

If you want to take advantage of this promotion, tap the Buy Now button. Be warned, though — Amazon only has a limited amount of inventory available for this specific deal (like usual) and it’s available worldwide, so it’ll probably go fast.

Buy Now

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This might be the reason why the Galaxy S8 display doesn’t feature an integrated fingerprint sensor

It was rumored around five months ago that the Galaxy S8 was going to be the first smartphone with optical fingerprint recognition. This would mean that the handset’s display was going to feature an integrated fingerprint sensor. Samsung was already expected to ditch the physical home button so it had to put the sensor somewhere and integrating it with the display felt like the natural choice.

However, we now know that the Galaxy S8′s fingerprint sensor has actually been relocated to the back alongside the rear sensor. It’s a bit unorthodox as we’ve seen in leaked images and videos of the Galaxy S8 but there’s no going back from this now. A new report out of Korea explains the reason why the Galaxy S8 doesn’t have optical fingerprint recognition.

The optical fingerprint recognition technology is still nascent and the report claims that Samsung and its fingerprint sensor supplier Synaptics were running out of time. Even though Samsung poured resources into Synaptics’ nascent technology last year, “the results were frustrating.”

The company had to make a decision as it had to start mass production of the Galaxy S8. It made a last minute decision to relocate the fingerprint sensor to the back. Samsung reportedly tried its best to have an embedded fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S8′s display but Synaptics was unable to develop the technology on time.

It’s pertinent to mention here that none of this has been confirmed by Samsung or Synaptics so take it with a grain of salt.

Samsung is likely to market the iris scanning and facial recognition features of the Galaxy S8 more to steal the spotlight from the fingerprint sensor. It remains to be seen when this technology will be fully developed so that it might be integrated into future Samsung flagships.

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AT&T releases February security patch for the Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S5 Active

AT&T is now sending out a new firmware update for the Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S5 Active on its network. This isn’t a major update so users shouldn’t expect much in the way of new features.

It’s actually rolling out the February security patch for these handsets now even though that’s no longer the latest security maintenance release from Google and Samsung. However, the March security update has only been released for a handful of devices so far.

Firmware version N910AUCS2EPK4, N920AUCS4CQB2 and G870AUCS2DPK5 is now being rolled out by AT&T for the Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S5 Active respectively. All of these updates weigh under 200MB since they just feature the security patch and a couple of odd improvements and tweaks.

The updates should have gone live by now across most regions so users just have to check and see if they got a notification on their handsets informing them that an over-the-air firmware update is available for their handset.

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What’s new with Android 7.0 on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge [4K Video]

Samsung finally started rolling out the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge last week. Vodafone was one of the first carriers in Europe to release it in a handful of markets and those firmware files and now available for download via our firmware section as well.

You might have already seen the photos of Nougat running on a Galaxy S6 edge but if you really want to understand what’s new with Android 7.0 on the 2016 flagship, check out our video coverage of some of the new features included in this update. The video has been shot in glorious 4K resolution so it’s not only informative but a treat to watch as well.

How has your experience been so far with Android 7.0 Nougat on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge? We’d love to know so share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Make sure that you’ve subscribed to our YouTube channel. We post videos daily so there’s always great new content to catch up on.

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Samsung releases Galaxy S8 TV ad early, likely a result of impressive LG G6 sales figures

With sales of the LG G6 off to a smooth start, Samsung has aired an advert for the Galaxy S8 on TV in South Korea three weeks ahead of its official unveiling. Typically, the firm releases similar promotional material one-to-two weeks ahead of a flagship release.

“Samsung’s rare move to release a TV ad for the Galaxy this early appears to (be an attempt to) keep LG from dominating the nation’s premium smartphone market before the S8 rollout,” said an anonymous industry analyst in a statement issued to The Korea Herald.

Originally, Samsung was planning to take the wraps off the Galaxy S8 (and Galaxy S8 Plus) during its event at MWC 2017, but amid the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, the firm decided that it would be best to delay the handset while it carries out more extensive test. It’ll now break cover in New York City on March 29.

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Galaxy S8 Plus 3,500mAh battery possibly leaked

As we mentioned in our what to expect from the Galaxy S8 article, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus might feature a 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh battery respectively. We’ve now spotted a leaked image of what appears to be the 3,500mAh battery of the Galaxy S8 Plus. If it’s the real deal it does confirm several things about the new flagship.

First off, it confirms rumors that the larger variant is going to have a 3,500mAh battery. That would be a concern for many who might think that it may not be enough. The markings on the battery itself reveal that the cell was made in Korea and assembled in Vietnam by Samsung SDI.

What it doesn’t reveal is who actually made the cell. Samsung has reportedly been working to diversify its battery cell supply chain for the Galaxy S8 following the disaster it suffered due to the Galaxy Note 7. It’s believed to be sourcing batteries from Samsung SDI, LG Chem, and Japan’s Murata Manufacturing Works.

Do you think a 3,500mAh battery will be enough for a 6.2-inch handset with flagship specifications or would you prefer if it had a bigger battery? Let us know in the comments below.

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Galaxy S8 certified by China’s product quality testing agency

Less than a week after it was spotted at the FCC, Samsung’s much-anticipated Galaxy S8 has received its China Compulsory Certification (CCC) — which, alongside TENAA, is one of the final port of calls a handset makes before it hits the shelves in the region — bearing the model number SM-G9500.

For those in need of a refresher, the Galaxy S8 is expected to pack a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels, a Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, a 12MP rear-facing camera, an 8MP selfie snapper and a 3,000mAh battery.

It’ll be unveiled in New York City on March 29.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S8 teaser was the most-watched corporate brand video last week

During its event at Mobile World Congress on February 26, Samsung released a (very minimal) teaser trailer for the Galaxy S8 — and it’s since blown up, amassing a total of 26.6 million views around the world last week alone; making it the most-watched corporate brand viral video from March 6 to March 12.

Read more: Here’s what to expect from the Samsung Galaxy S8

For comparison, LG took to its YouTube channel last week to share a video highlighting the large display and ergonomic design of its recently-announced flagship G6, though it only ranked fifth in the corporate brand viral video rankings, with a total view count of 1.3 million views for the same 7-day period.

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