We had known for some time that Samsung would be launching a new portable battery pack with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, and that battery pack is now available for sale, at least in the US. The new battery pack has a 5,100 mAh capacity; according to Samsung, it “provides up to 2 full charges from 0-100% on most of the latest smartphones,” which is a standard claim for most portable chargers of a similar size.
The battery pack has a USB Type-C port and a standard USB port (the latter is for charging the pack itself), with a USB Type-C to microUSB converter bundled in the box for devices with the older generation port. There’s support for fast charging on devices that have fast charge support, while regular devices will get a standard 2A output. The battery pack has a strap for easy handling, and Samsung is offering it in silver and navy blue color options.
The battery pack is priced at $59.99 and can be purchased from Samsung’s website or from Amazon.
Welcome to the latest edition of Wallpaper Wednesday. This week we’re highlighting five pictures involving different materials. All of the images are available in a suitable resolution for the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ and just about any other smartphone (or even tablet) on the market.
If any of the following images float your boat and you want to download and set one as your wallpaper, simply tap on the photo to maximise it, then click and hold to save it. Once the picture is stored locally, open up Settings, locate and select Wallpaper, then just press the image to set it as your background.
Note: We’ve tried our best to identify the creators of all of the wallpapers featured in this week’s column. However, the images appear to lack copyright information, artist signatures or any real trace of origin. If you created a wallpaper we’ve posted and would like credit, or would rather we remove the image, kindly contact us.
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.
If you’re running low on storage, you’ll probably be pleased to hear that you can now pick up a 64GB EVO+ microSD card for just $28.95 (31% off). However, we should probably point out that unlike most of our other promotions, this one isn’t available worldwide — so you’ll need to reside in the U.S. to take advantage of it.
Like the sound of 64GB EVO microSD card and want to bag yourself one? Hit the Buy Now button below. We advise you to hurry, though, as Amazon only has a very limited amount of inventory available for this specific deal, and — as we say time and time again — once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Samsung’s Gear VR was by far the most popular virtual reality headset in the first quarter of 2017. The South Korean consumer electronics giant sold more virtual reality headsets worldwide than Google, HTC, Oculus, and Sony combined, which is super impressive.
According to SuperData Research, Samsung was able to sell 782,000 units of Gear VR during Q1 2017. Only 375,000 units of Sony’s PlayStation VR were sold during the first quarter. Google was able to sell 170,000 units of its Daydream View VR headset. Around 95,000 units of HTC Vive and 64,000 units of Oculus Rift were sold during the same period.
This doesn’t come as a surprise to us since Samsung jumped into the VR market quite early, and it collaborated with Oculus to make a relatively inexpensive VR headset that works with its hugely popular Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series of smartphones. It has also been able to deliver a decent number of games and content for its headset.
Everyone likes GIFs. You’ve probably shared a ton of them with your friends on Facebook and other social channels, and even wondered at times if you could easily make your own GIFs. Well, some of you might already know it, but for those who don’t, Samsung offers a dedicated camera mode so you can record moments directly as GIF files. It’s been available for Samsung devices for some time, and you can also download it on the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+.
The GIF shooting mode doesn’t come installed by default, so you will have to download it in the camera app. Here’s how you can do that.
Step 1: Open the camera app, then swipe right on the screen to access the shooting modes.
Step 2: Hit the + button at the top. You’ll see a list of all downloadable camera modes for the S8 and S8+. Tap the download button next to Animated GIF.
Step 3: Once it’s installed, simply go back to the camera app. To access the GIF mode, go to the mode selection screen.
To capture GIFs, you need to hold down the camera shutter button till you’ve captured what you need. The camera app will count up to a maximum of 20, and that’s where GIF recording stops. You can’t record long GIFs, and the quality isn’t always too great, but it’s still a nice way to capture moments in moving form without using up the space a typical video would take. As with all images and videos, these GIFs can be accessed from the gallery and shared through other apps. Below is a sample so you can see what kind of quality you can expect.
You can also make GIFs from content playing on the phone from apps such as YouTube, by using the Smart Select Edge panel. For more tips and tricks on the Galaxy S8 and S8+, go here.
At CES 2017, Samsung showed off The Frame, a concept UHD TV capable of effortlessly blending into the background by displaying artwork when it’s not in use, and now it’s been revealed that the device will exhibited in La Biennale di Venezia’ 57th International Art Exhibition titled Viva Arte Viva in Venice, Italy.
“In an era where consumers assess how a product provides value to their lifestyle, it is important to provide more than just functionality,” said Han Seung-hee, Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “At Samsung, we have redefined how a TV can beautify a consumer’s space as part of their home décor objet.”
As noted over on its Newsroom, Samsung has partnered with modern artist Lee Wan for the exhibition. The Frame will be used to display Wan’s Made In film series, which contains footage of his daily routines symbolizing modernizations and cultures of ten different Asian countries, including Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.
“The Frame is the only product which can deliver the true intentions of artists while maintaining a sleek design,” explained Wan. “Showcasing The Frame at the upcoming La Biennale di Venezia’ art exhibition will propel The Frame as a hotly discussed topic for the world’s leading art museums, galleries and artists.”
Samsung is planning to launch The Frame in the United States later this year.
We published a poll yesterday asking our readers what Galaxy S8 or S8+ color option they have opted for, and following one of the comments on that poll, I thought I should point out a very important factor for anyone looking to pick either of Samsung’s new flagships in the coming days. This is advice particularly for lovers of the color black and haters of the color gold, as folks in both camps will find that this year, it’s not as simple as “black is good, gold is bad.”
Here at SamMobile, our staff has different preferences, and gold is perhaps the only color everyone ignores every time a new Samsung phone comes out. But with the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the gold color variant is actually quite nice to look at, as Samsung is using subdued and subtler shades for each color. I’ve gone with the coral blue variant as I was dying to get a coral blue Note 7 last year, but every time I see the Maple Gold S8+ in the hands of one of my friends, I’ve actually wondered if I should have gone for the gold variant instead.
As for the Midnight Black version, it continues to look cool, but perhaps it might not be the only option for you as every Galaxy S8 and S8+ is all black at the front, so you’re still seeing black when you’re actually using your phone. Orchid Gray is also a great color option you should look at, as it’s dark and even looks like it changes shade depending on how the light hits it. It’s probably what I would have opted for had it not been for Samsung’s insistence to not make all color options available in every market.
I guess the basic gist here is: If you thought black was the best color for every phone, or gold is simply something you stay away from, you might want to reconsider. Before you make a decision, try going to a retail store and seeing the S8 or S8+ in all the color options available in your area/country. If that isn’t possible, check out the many reviews of the Galaxy S8 on YouTube. You might find yourself opting for a different color than the one you had in mind, and save yourself from second guessing your decision when you see someone with a Galaxy S8 in another shade out on the streets later on.
SquareTrade, an American extended warranty service provider for consumer electronic devices, recently published a video showcasing how fragile the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ are. It was reportedly the first phone that the company has tested that cracked on the first drop on all sides. Now, Motherboard is reporting that repair companies are stoked with the prospect of fixing the Galaxy S8 and S8+ since it is popular, fragile, and expensive, but most importantly, their replacement parts are relatively inexpensive. Repair shops reportedly started receiving calls for Galaxy S8 screen repairs within 24 hours of the phone’s release.
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ feature Infinity Displays with almost no side bezels. These phones are covered by Gorilla Glass 5 panels on the front and the back. Moreover, the metal sides meet with glass panels, which results in devices that are susceptible to damage if dropped. This is making third party phone repair shops quite happy since they believe that a lot of people would accidentally damage their Galaxy S8 and bring them in for repairs. They are also happy because the screen replacement parts are relatively cheaper compared to the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge at the time of their release.
“The price point is good; the repairability is there. Durability-wise, it’s definitely going to break, no question about that.” Justin Carroll, owner of the Richmond, Virginia-based Fruit Fixed smartphone repair shop, told Motherboard. Repair store owners were surprised that early wholesale prices for replacement screens from China are hovering around $200, which is $50 to $100 cheaper than Galaxy S7 screen replacement parts last year. In comparison, iPhone 7 screen replacement prices were hovering around $300 at the time of the phone’s release.
The Galaxy S8 is priced around $750, so it’s worth it to get its screen repaired than buying a new device altogether. “It’s low for an OLED panel in a new flagship, especially for new screen tech like the Infinity Display,” Kev Notton, founder of San Diego-based RepairMapr, an upcoming diagnosis tool that repair shops can use to annotate their repairs. Since there’s so much fragmentation in Android smartphones, it’s not viable for repair shop owners to buy replacement parts in bulk, which makes Android phones more expensive to repair (compared to iPhones).
Independent mobile shop owners reportedly try to get the price of screen replacement under $200 – the price of most smartphone insurance plans – so that they can beat insurance companies on price. “If we can get repair price under $200 you take away all of the value insurance has. The only thing insurance can usually beat us on price point. If they can’t do that, then there’s no reason to have it,” Carroll said. Aftermarket and replacement part pricing is a function of global supply chain, so it is reportedly hard to know why Galaxy S8 screen replacement parts are cheaper this time around.
It is possible that Apple is bringing OLED displays to its upcoming iPhones, resulting in lower cost due to bulk manufacturing. It is also possible that Samsung has improved the manufacturing process for OLED displays, driving the cost down. Or it could be that Samsung understood that high prices for display repairs could turn down a lot of potential customers, so it is not going after aftermarket parts manufacturers who reverse engineer replacement parts or make them using stolen schematics (which are called counterfeit products by companies).
Recently, we’ve heard a lot about the upcoming Galaxy J3 (2017). It all started when the handset was imported into India for testing back in October and shortly after a copy of its specifications surfaced online. Now, however, the device has been spotted passing through the FCC, which is usually one of the last port of calls a new smartphone makes before it hits the shelves.
As you’d expect, the listing doesn’t reveal anything we don’t already know about the Galaxy J3 (2017), other than that it sports a 2,400mAh battery, which is a little surprising considering its predecessor packs a 2,600mAh cell. Other notable purported internals include a 5-inch display, an Exynos 7570 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 12MP rear-facing and a 5MP front-facing camera.
Unfortunately, Samsung is still yet to confirm when it will unveil the long-awaited Galaxy J3 (2017). However, we think it’s pretty safe to say that it’ll be relatively soon seeing as the handset has now acquired all of the documentation it needs to launch on the open market in the United States and a slew of other countries dotted around the world.
