T-Mobile will ship Galaxy S8 pre-orders early

T-Mobile starting taking pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 late last month and while the handset is going to be officially launched in the United States on April 21, the carrier has said that it’s going to ship pre-order units a bit early.

It has started sending out text messages to pre-order customers in order to inform them that their orders are now being packed and that some customers may see their credit cards being charged. It also mentions that shipping will begin on April 19 prior to the handset’s official release on April 21.

This means that at least some of its customers will get the Galaxy S8 a day or even two ahead of the official release date while others will most certainly get it on April 21. This isn’t the first time that T-Mobile has done something like this. It delivered pre-orders for the Galaxy S7 a full week before the release date last year.

While it doesn’t appear to be taking such a big liberty with the Galaxy S8, it may very well be the first to put the Galaxy S8 in the hands of its customers.

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Samsung delays the launch of Bixby Voice in the US

Samsung’s new AI-powered assistant Bixby was to be launched in the US alongside the Galaxy S8 and S8+. However, the company has now announced that Bixby won’t see a full-fledged launch in the US on April 21. The launch of Bixby’s voice module has been delayed, and it will be available in the US later this spring.

ixby was one of the most important talking points during the official unveiling of the Galaxy S8 and S8+. These smartphones even feature a dedicated hardware button that summons Bixby, and the company boldly claimsed that Bixby Voice could do any task that users can do by touching the phone’s screen. Looks like Bixby Voice isn’t ready for prime time yet.

Here’s an excerpt from Samsung’s official quote regarding Bixby’s launch in the US:

With its intelligent interface and contextual awareness, Bixby will make your phone more helpful by assisting in completing tasks, telling you what you’re looking at, learning your routine and remembering what you need to do. Key features of Bixby, including Vision, Home and Reminder, will be available with the global launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on April 21. Bixby Voice will be available in the U.S. on the Galaxy S8 later this spring.

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Samsung DeX station is now available in the Netherlands for €119

The Samsung Dex station, which was unveiled alongside the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ last month, is now available for purchase in the Netherlands. It is priced at €119 (which is a 20% discount over its original price of €149), and you can order it through KnalDeals.com. The online shop is offering free delivery if you order DeX through it, but know that there are only 15 units left as of now.

The DeX station is compatible with the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+, and it turns these smartphones into a desktop computer. It offers users a desktop-like UI with multiple windows, a full-sized web browser with multiple tabs, and Android apps when it is connected to a monitor (through its HDMI port), a keyboard, and a mouse (through Bluetooth or one of its full-sized USB ports).

The wired docking station features two full-sized USB ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, an Ethernet port, and a USB Type-C port. Apart from using Android apps, accessing files, and replying to messages and emails, users can also take calls through a connected loudspeaker or over Bluetooth while using the DeX. It can also rapidly charge a connected smartphone using its Fast Adaptive Charge-enabled USB Type-C port.

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AT&T releases Nougat for the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+

Sprint rolled out the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+ on its network last week and now AT&T is following through as well. The second largest mobile carrier in the United States today rolled out the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+.

Firmware version N920AUCU4EQC6 and G928AUCU4EQC6 is now being rolled out for the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ respectively by AT&T. The update weighs more than 1.5GB for both devices and that’s not surprising given that it’s a major platform update for the operating system.

The update brings all of the new features that are part and parcel of Android 7.0. You can find out all that’s new in Nougat for the Galaxy Note 5 in our video overview of the update that’s embedded below. Samsung Cloud and Samsung Pass are also included in this update.

AT&T subscribers will be happy to note that the AT&T Address Book, MobiTV, and AT&T Live bloatware will be removed after they get on Nougat. The carrier is rolling out the update in phases so it’s going to be a while before it becomes available for all users on AT&T.

Thanks, Abraham!

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Samsung overtakes Apple in global smartphone share

Market intelligence firm TrendForce has published a new report today summing up the condition of the global smartphone market in the first quarter of this year. According to its data, Samsung has overtaken Apple to become the leader in the global smartphone market.

Apple was in the top spot in the fourth quarter of 2016 as it accounted for 20.3 percent while Samsung was in second place with 18.5 percent. The two have swapped positions with Samsung accounting for 26.1 percent of the market in Q1 2017 and Apple for 16.9 percent.

Despite the fact that Samsung has been trying to recover from the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco over the past couple of quarters and that it didn’t have a new flagship on the market during this period, it continued its impressive performance in the low-end and mid-range segments of the market with the Galaxy J series performing particularly well.

This helped make Samsung the only smartphone brand to see positive growth in production volume during the first quarter of this year.The company might see further growth in the second and third quarters of this year as the impact of the Galaxy S8 becomes visible.

The initial reception has been great for Samsung’s new flagship and it’s setting new records for the company. For now, it seems that the Galaxy S8 will help Samsung retain the top spot in the global smartphone market throughout 2017.

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SamMobile Daily Recap: April 11, 2017 — Galaxy S8 and more!

We publish a lot of stories on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the majority of news breaks during our European hours of operation, which makes it difficult for our readers in the US (and other regions) to keep up. However, we think we’ve come up with a fantastic solution — a daily recap.

Here’s what happened today.

Business

Samsung might confirm Magneti Marelli acquisition later this year

Firmware News

Galaxy A (2017) Nougat update enters testing

Galaxy S8 could get Android 7.1 soon, and maybe other Samsung devices as well

General

Five more startups are being spun off from Samsung’s Creative Lab program

Phones

Galaxy S8 pre-orders top 600,000 units in South Korea

Galaxy S8+ more popular with pre-order customers in the US, says Samsung

Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime with 32GB internal storage to go on sale in India

Samsung Premium Care launched for the Galaxy S8

Samsung will reportedly test a dual-screen smartphone prototype soon

Sprint launches the Galaxy J7 Perx

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The best replacement USB Type-C cables for your Samsung smartphone

If you recently picked up a Samsung smartphone, there’s a good chance it sports a USB Type-C port. Sadly, certified replacement cables aren’t as easy to come across as microUSBs (using a dodgy one can fry your handset) — so we’ve decided to put together a short list of our top four affordable replacement leads, which can not only be used to charge your device, but for data transfer, too.

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1. AmazonBasics — $9.99

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2. Aukey USB-C to USB 3.0 — $8.99

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3. Belkin USB-IF — $19.56

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4. Snowkids — $10.99

So there you have it, folks. Our roundup of some of the best third-party USB Type-C cables. If you’re thinking about picking one up that’s not on our list, make sure it’s been certified by Google, as poor quality leads can wreak havoc on your phone’s circuitry.

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We’re looking for a news author based in the Netherlands, come be a part of our team!

The team here at SamMobile is committed to bringing the latest updates on everything related to Samsung’s mobile devices, and to further improve what we do, we are looking to hire a news author based in the Netherlands that can contribute on a daily basis. If like and use Samsung devices and have the writing skills that we are looking for then, by all means, take advantage of this opportunity to be a part of the largest (and most accurate) source of Samsung news, leaks and rumors online.

We are looking for a news author based in Zuid-Holland, who will be responsible for contributing in regular work hours in the country’s time zone and also at other times, as and when possible. This is a paid position, and candidates have to meet the following requirements:

• It goes without saying, you need to have a good command of the English language. This can’t be stressed enough. The occasional error can be accepted but if you don’t have basic grammar skills that can be expected from a writer, it would be best if you don’t apply.
• You must be passionate about Samsung devices and writing articles. You should be aware of what’s going on as far as news about Samsung and its devices is concerned and ideally, should be using one of its mobile devices on a daily basis.
• You must have enough free time to contribute 1-3 articles each day. There is no set time but if you are unable to make time for two or three days in a week, this position is not for you. Weekends are not mandatory.
• If you have prior experience writing for any technology website, preferably mobile-related, it will work in your favor but it’s not a requirement.
• WordPress knowledge.

If you think you meet the above requirements then send an email to dd@sammobile.com with News Author as the subject and the following details:

• An article on the Galaxy S8′s official announcement. Try to make it an interesting article and not just one that reads like a press release about its features and specifications.
• A regular news article based on this post, in your own words: Samsung will reportedly test a dual-screen smartphone prototype soon
• Name of the device you’re currently using (doesn’t have to be a Samsung device, but iPhone users are now welcome ).
• The time you can reasonably expect to work in a single day.
• Links to the articles you may have written on other websites, if any.

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Daily Deal: Save 60% on a pair of Active InEar headphones

While stock lasts, you can pick up a pair of Samsung’s InEar headphones for $19.99 (60% off). For the record, these are the same basic earphones that ship in the box of the company’s latest smartphones (excluding the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+).

If you want to take advantage of this deal, click the Buy Now button below. We advise you to hurry, though, as Amazon only has a limited amount of inventory available and it probably won’t be around for long.

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Galaxy S8 pre-orders top 600,000 units in South Korea

The Galaxy S8 is shaping up to be a big hit for Samsung, at least initially. A local news report claimed yesterday that Samsung had received more than 550,000 pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 in just four days after it started taking them. Samsung has confirmed on the fifth day that it has actually received pre-orders for more than 600,000 Galaxy S8 units in its home market of South Korea.

A Samsung official revealed that so far the company has received pre-orders for 620,000 units of the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 and 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 combined and orders for more than 150,000 units of the exclusive 128GB storage and 6GB RAM Galaxy S8+ have also been received.

Even though the company is confident that there won’t be any supply issues due to rising demand and despite reports suggesting that it has ramped up production, Samsung has said that pre-orders for the Galaxy S8+ have already matched in inventory which might mean that there could be a delay in shipments for the larger variant.

If pre-orders keep coming in at this pace, industry analysts expect the total figure to cross over 1 million prior to the official release date of April 21.

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Galaxy A (2017) Nougat update enters testing

It has only been a couple of months since Samsung came out with the Galaxy A (2017) series and even though the refreshed series was launched after Android 7.0 Nougat came out, they came with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box. Now that Samsung has released Android 7.0 Nougat for devices like the Galaxy S7, Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ it can focus its attention on mid-range handsets like the new A series.

A model of the Galaxy A7 (2017) has appeared on a popular benchmarking website and the listing reveals that it was running Android 7.0 Nougat. We usually see such listings pop up whenever a major software update is in the pipeline for a supported device.

Even though the listing specifically mentions the Galaxy A7 (2017), it can reasonably be assumed that Samsung is also testing the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Galaxy A3 (2017) and the Galaxy A5 (2017) as well.

Samsung hasn’t confirmed as yet when the Galaxy A (2017) series is going to receive its Nougat update but it might take a couple of months before that happens.

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Samsung will reportedly test a dual-screen smartphone prototype soon

If a new report out of South Korea is to be believed, Samsung is going to test a prototype of its dual-screen smartphone soon. It might be a preliminary version of its much-rumored foldable smartphone. It’s claimed that the prototype can be folded open 180-degrees and features two OLED display panels that are connected with a hinge in the middle.

Unnamed sources mentioned in the report said that Samsung has already placed orders for components to produce between 2,000 and 3,000 units of the dual-screen smartphone in the first half of this year.

The company is also believed to be working on something called Project Valley which is often referred to as the Galaxy X as well. It’s Samsung’s first foldable smartphone with a single flexible OLED display that folds outward.

“Samsung seems to be testing the waters with the dual-screen device to gather ideas about its upcoming foldable phone,” said another source. Whether or not the test will give it the results that it needs to go ahead with a public launch remains to be seen.

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Galaxy S8+ more popular with pre-order customers in the US, says Samsung

A lot of people expected that customers will prefer the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 over the 6.2-inch behemoth that is the Galaxy S8+ but that doesn’t appear to be the case, at least in the United States. Samsung has said that pre-orders for its new flagship are already performing better than the Galaxy S7.

The company told CNBC that “The majority of consumers have been selecting the Galaxy S8+,” pointing out that the larger model is selling better than its 5.8-inch counterpart. Samsung also said that it has seen “double digit growth” in pre-order numbers for the Galaxy S8 as compared to last year ever since pre-orders went live two weeks ago.

This goes to show that appetite exists in one of the most lucrative markets in the world for flagship smartphones for handsets that have massive displays. It makes sense, more and more content is being consumed on mobile devices these days, so display size as well as display technology is becoming increasingly important.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be released in the United States come April 21. That’s also when retail sales of the new flagship will begin.

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Five more startups are being spun off from Samsung’s Creative Lab program

Samsung launched its C-Lab or Creative Lab program back in 2012. It’s a startup business program for the company’s employees that encourages them to work on innovative ideas. Samsung provides them with support and successful ideas are subsequently launched as independent companies that are supported by Samsung. 25 C-Lab projects have been turned into businesses so far.

Samsung today announced that five more startups launched by its employees are being spun off from its C-Lab division. The five projects select this year are applying innovative thinking and the latest technology to create new products.

These products include Bebefit which is a baby carrier that protects infants in an easy and smart way, chikapong – Kids’ Toothbrushes that help them develop good dental habits, Internet-connected devices for kids that connect to toys called TagPlus, the S-Skin home skin care solution and a portable device that recommends cosmetics based on skin analysis called Lumini.

The teams also demonstrated their products at CES 2017 earlier this year and have incorporate feedback from consumers and industry experts to improve them.

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Galaxy S8 could get Android 7.1 soon, and maybe other Samsung devices as well

Android 7.0 Nougat is currently out for numerous Samsung devices, and while you might say these run on the latest version of Android, that isn’t completely true. Samsung’s Nougat builds are based on Android 7.0, while Android 7.1 has been out for a few months. Usually, Samsung incorporates features of newer point upgrades without changing the version number on its devices, but the lack of features like Google Daydream VR support on the Galaxy S8 suggests it isn’t the case with Android 7.0.

But it seems that Samsung is finally ready to introduce Android 7.1 to its devices and could start with the Galaxy S8. The latest version of Samsung’s S Health and Game Tuner apps now support Android 7.1 (as seen on the APK Mirror website), the first time we’re seeing this on any of the company’s apps. Game Tuner’s changelog for the latest version also says that support for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ has been added, so it certainly looks like Android 7.1 could be released for Samsung’s latest flagships at some point in the near future.

Perhaps the update will go live as soon as the phones go on sale, but at this point there is no saying if and when it will happen. It also remains to be seen whether existing Samsung devices will get Android 7.1 anytime soon and whether Samsung will be pulling in features from Android 7.1.1 into the 7.1 build that it will make available to its devices. In any case, we’ll let you know should the update get released and if there is more information on the same.

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Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime with 32GB internal storage to go on sale in India

Samsung had launched the Galaxy J7 Prime in India last year along with the Galaxy J5 Prime. Both smartphones were launched with 16GB of internal storage. However, most competing smartphones in the lower mid-range price category come with at least 32GB of internal storage. The company might have realised this, and it is now preparing to launch the 32GB variant of the Galaxy J7 Prime in the country.

As per a tweet by an independent Indian retailer Mahesh Telecom, Samsung will soon launch the Galaxy J7 Prime (SM-G610FO) with 32GB internal storage with a price tag of INR 16,900 (approx. $260). The Galaxy On Nxt, which is essentially a Galaxy J7 Prime with 32GB internal storage, was launched exclusively on Flipkart. The company is now making the same device available through brick and mortar stores.

The Galaxy J7 Prime features a 5.5-inch 1080p PLS TFT display, a fingerprint reader, a 13-megapixel primary camera with 1080p video recording, and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It uses a 1.6GHz octa-core Exynos 7870 processor, 3GB RAM, 16GB/32GB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot (up to 256GB). It’s a dual-SIM smartphone with LTE (and VoLTE) connectivity, and a 3,300 mAh battery.

The New #Samsung #J7Prime G610FO will now come with 32GB Internal storage for ₹16900/- .
₹1000 more than the 16GB ver.
(Stocks in few days) http://pic.twitter.com/Jlegjms8op

— Mahesh Telecom (@MAHESHTELECOM) April 4, 2017

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Samsung might confirm Magneti Marelli acquisition later this year

It was first reported last year that Samsung was interested in acquiring Fiat Chrysler’s auto parts subsidiary Magneti Marelli. Progress was reportedly being made in the talks but the deal had to be set aside as Samsung dealt with the fallout from the Galaxy Note 7 disaster.

It was later reported that Samsung had actually given up on the Magneti Marelli acquisition partly because it had already spent $8 billion on acquiring Harman International. It was then reported last month that this story isn’t over yet.

Samsung may still be trying to acquire the auto parts giant from Fiat Chrysler, previous reports suggest that it’s offering $885 million for the company while Fiat Chrysler is asking $2.65 billion. A new report out of South Korea claims that Samsung is now in final talks with Fiat Chrysler to acquire Magneti Marelli later this year.

An industry source quoted in the report that Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong had decided that the company will go ahead with this acquisition even before the corruption scandal that put him behind bars started. Lee Jae-yong has been on the board of Fiat Chrysler’s holding company Exor since 2012.

In Lee’s absence, Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun has reportedly been leading the Samsung delegation in the talks. The report claims that a tentative agreement on the price has been reached. Both companies have not commented on this report so nothing is confirmed as of now.

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Sprint launches the Galaxy J7 Perx

Good news for Sprint customers looking to pick up a Galaxy J7 (2017): it’s now available through the operator, though it carries the moniker Galaxy J7 Perx. Don’t let its name fool you, though. It’s the exact same as the Galaxy J7 V that’s listed on Verizon’s website.

For those in need of a refresher, the Galaxy J7 (2017) (or Galaxy J7 Perx in this case) sports a 5.5-inch display, a 2.2GHz octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 5MP selfie shooter and a 3,300mAh battery.

With regards to pricing, Sprint’s selling the Galaxy J7 Perx for $265 outright on a prepaid tariff. However, customers also have the option to split the cost of the device over 24 months for $11 per month with no upfront payment, making it that little bit more affordable.

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Samsung Premium Care launched for the Galaxy S8

Samsung has launched the Premium Care enhanced warranty program for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. It has teamed up with HelloTech and Dish in the United States to enable customers to have a service representative meet them at their desired location. The representative can help with setup, troubleshooting, repairs and even replacements all within a few hours.

Bear in mind that the new flagship’s one-year warranty is not extended by Premium Care, rather, it’s enhanced. The program includes accidental damage from spills, drops and cracks aside from normal wear and tear due to daily usage.

Samsung Premium Care offers one business day delivery for replacement devices and users can get up to three per year by paying a $99 deductible every time. HelloTech provides the in-home onboard service for those who need help in figuring out how their Galaxy S8 works.

All those who pre-order the Galaxy S8 in the United States by April 17 can sign up for Premium Care and they will get the first month for free after which the program costs $11.99 per month. It doesn’t require any contracts so Galaxy S8 owners can choose when they would like to have this added layer of protection.

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