Galaxy S9 reportedly codenamed ‘Star’ as development begins early

According to Korean publication The Bell, Samsung has chosen ‘Star’ as the codename for the Galaxy S9 (and ‘Star 2′ for the larger model). Development of the device has reportedly begun 3 to 4 months ahead of schedule, but as expected, there is no information available on what the S9 will offer (other than a more refined Infinity Display) or the reason behind why Star has been chosen as its codename.

As usual, we can only do a bit of guesswork, and it could be that the S9 will be a shining example of Samsung’s technical prowess and be similar to the kind of upgrade the Galaxy S7 edge was over the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. The Galaxy S8 was codenamed Project Dream, and as we had exclusively reported, the Galaxy Note 8 is internally dubbed ‘Great’, which is one of the most straightforward codenames to be associated with a Samsung flagship. Early rumors did point the Galaxy Note 8 as having a much different codename, so it’s entirely possible the Galaxy S9 might be called something else as well.

With nearly a year left before the Galaxy S9′s eventual release, the report should be taken with a pinch of salt. Samsung no doubt has most of its focus on the Galaxy Note 8 as it works towards rebuilding consumer trust in the Note lineup, and it’s best not to put much stock in any rumors about next year’s Galaxy S flagship at this point in time.

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SamMobile Daily Recap: May 23, 2017 — DeX, Gear S3, 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 we wrote today today.

Deals

Daily Deal: Pick up a 128GB Pro Plus microSD card for 33% off

Display

Samsung may supply OLED displays to Hyundai

Firmware News

T-Mobile’s Galaxy Note 5 starts receiving May 2017 security patch

Opinion

Samsung’s phone cameras continue to be the best at what the general consumer wants

Phones

Samsung DeX reportedly works with the Microsoft Lumia 950

SK Telecom unveils the Samsung Galaxy Wide 2 in South Korea

The CCC finds a way to trick the Galaxy S8′s iris scanner

Samsung Pay

Samsung Pay comes to the Gear S2 and the Gear S3 in the UK

TV

You can now watch endless drone footage on your Samsung Smart TV

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Here’s what we keep on our Galaxy S8′s home screen

Last year, we ran a weekly segment where we featured some of our reader’s home screen setups — but most of us have never shown off ours. Up until now, that is. Since pretty much the entire SamMobile team decided to upgrade to either the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+, we thought we’d show you our home screens.

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Abhijeet Mishra

I’m not really into home screen customization anymore, but I have all my frequently used apps arranged in folders on the primary home screen. Everything else that I need is accessed from the app drawer.

I only use a single home screen, and I keep exporting the same setup to every new phone that I use. Samsung’s default wallpapers on the Galaxy S8 are great (that, and I’m more about functionality than looks), so I’m using one of the default wallpapers.

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Adnan Farooqui

I like to keep the homescreen of my smartphone clean, so I don’t clutter it with a lot of widgets or apps. The reason behind this is that I want quick access to the apps that I use frequently. I don’t want to keep swiping through homescreens every time I have to find an app.

The main homescreen on my Galaxy S8+ is left unchanged so it’s exactly the way it was when I took the phone out of the box. One swipe to the left and I have all of the apps I use frequently laid out neatly. If I need to use an app that doesn’t get a coveted homescreen spot on my device, I just open the app drawer.

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Asif Iqbal Shaik

I am using the Coral Blue variant of the Galaxy S8+, and I’ve decorated the the homescreen of my phone with Samsung’s apps and widgets that I use the most. I am using the default theme and Infinity Wallpaper pack. I have just two homescreens as I prefer to keep it simple.

I am a sucker for well-designed icons and apps, and I liked Samsung’s new iconography for TouchWiz. So, all the apps that I have placed on the homescreen are from Samsung as I didn’t want to ruin it my mixing them with other third-party apps. Instead, I’ve placed all the third-party apps on the edge panel, so I can access them from anywhere. I am also using the music player widget from Samsung and a dual-clock widget shows me New York’s and Amsterdam’s time, which is important to my work at SamMobile.

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Danny Dorresteijn

I keep it clean because I like to see my wallpaper not blocked by icons or widgets.

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Josh Levenson

I decided to keep my home screen relatively clean. I’m a big fan of the default weather and search widgets, so I left them on the first page. On the second page, you’ll find four of my most-used applications. If I need anything else, I’ll open it using the app drawer.

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Martin Reinders

Over time, I’ve become less interested in changing my home screen. I simply bundle all of the applications I use on a daily basis into a folder in my navigation bar. I also changed the hideous icons to the stock Android ones.

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Samsung could launch the Portable SSD T5 next month

Samsung is currently the largest SSD maker in the world, and after launching the impressive Portable SSD T3 last year, the company is geared up to launch the successor sometime next month. According to an exclusive report from The Korea Herald, Samsung will start the production of its next-generation portable SSD solution next week.

Dubbed Samsung Portable SSD T5, the storage solution is reportedly based on the company’s fourth-generation 64-layer V NAND flash memory. The production of this storage device is expected to start next week, and it could be launched sometime next month. Even though it has higher storage capacity, it is expected to be lighter, stronger, and faster than last year’s T3.

Thanks to 64 layers of stacked cell-arrays (with a storage density of 512Gb per die), the Portable SSD T5′s data transfer speed is expected to be somewhere around 800Mbps, up from 450Mbps in last year’s model. Samsung could launch the upcoming variant in Black, Coral Blue, and Silver, matching color schemes of its new high-end smartphones.

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Daily Deal: Pick up a 128GB Pro Plus microSD card for 33% off

Amazon has slashed the price of Samsung’s top-of-the-line 128GB Pro Plus microSD card down to $100.88 (33% off). What’s neat about this specific card is that it’s been built specifically for 4K content — so it’s capable of reading and writing data at an impressive 95MB/s and 90 MB/s, respectively.

If you like the sound of 128GB Pro Plus microSD card and want to bag yourself one, simply 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 once it’s gone, it’s gone.

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Samsung’s phone cameras continue to be the best at what the general consumer wants

Every time a new flagship smartphone comes out, its camera is pitched against other flagship phones on the market. Experts take a look at a wide variety of situations before coming to a conclusion on what phone takes the best pictures. This year, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have been outranked by devices like the HTC U11 and the six-month-old Google Pixel on DxOMark. But as a blind test carried out by the folks over at Android Central proves yet again, Samsung’s smartphone cameras continue to take the most pleasing images as far as the general consumer is concerned.

Samsung has been accused of dialing up the colors on the images produced by its smartphone cameras, and while the company has taken things down a notch, it continues to tune its cameras to take pictures with enhanced contrast. Experts can discuss all day about things like details in the shadows in images with high dynamic range or the color accuracy of subjects in an image, but at the end of the day, what’s pleasing to the eye is what ultimately comes out on top. Android Central’s blind test isn’t a one-off case that supports this. You can find a variety of these on YouTube, and in most cases, the Galaxy S8 gets selected as having the best camera.

In fact, devices like the LG G6 and the Google Pixel also tend to oversaturate colors in a wide variety of situations, lending support to the fact that that is what consumers prefer. It’s something a lot of us have always believed, but the Galaxy S8 continuing the tradition of Samsung devices getting the most votes in blind tests such as these is further proof that the little things that many camera comparisons like to dwell on don’t exactly matter.

It’s not that these comparisons are wrong in going into detail. In this day and age, there’s no such thing as the wrong choice as far as flagship phone cameras are concerned. Testing on technical grounds is a great way to reveal how one phone does it differently (or better) than the other. Android Central’s test, for example, shows how Samsung still has work to do with its selfie cameras, and how everyone but Apple manages to ruin photos of food by messing up the colors even in good lighting.

But overall, it goes to show that Samsung still has the lead as far as taking pleasing images are concerned, even if it wins by just a slight margin. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ take great photos despite not matching up the competition in some aspects, and Samsung will no doubt be working on adding improvements with its future flagship phones.

Hit the source link to take a look at Android Central’s camera test. Still undecided on whether the Galaxy S8 or S8+ are worth buying? Check out what we think of the phones after a couple of weeks of use.

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Samsung DeX reportedly works with the Microsoft Lumia 950

Samsung DeX, an accessory that turns the Galaxy S8 or the S8+ into desktop-like computers when connected to an external monitor, reportedly also works with the Microsoft Lumia 950. A new video posted on YouTube shows how the Lumia 950 works perfectly with Samsung’s DeX station. It loads up Microsoft’s version of smartphone-powered desktop UI based on Windows 10 when connected to an external monitor.

The Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ are equipped with powerful 64-bit octa-core processors that are powerful enough to drive a 4K external monitor when connected using the DeX station. All the processing actually happens on the smartphones, and DeX just offers multiple ports to connect things like keyboard, mice, storage device, an ethernet cable, and an HDMI port. So, is the DeX just a glorified, overpriced USB-C hub from Samsung?

What are your thoughts about Samsung DeX? Have a look at the video below.

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The CCC finds a way to trick the Galaxy S8′s iris scanner

The iris recognition system on board the recently-released Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ was reportedly defeated by the Chaos Computer Club (CCC). Using a printed infrared image of a human eye with a contact lens attached, the hackers were able to trick the system into thinking it was looking at the eye of the registered owner.

“Iris recognition may protect a phone against complete strangers unlocking it, but whoever has a photo of the legitimate owner can trivially unlock the phone,” says Dirk Engling, a spokesperson for the CCC. “If you value the data on your phone – and possibly want to even use it for payment – using a traditional PIN is a safer approach.”

While this news may frustrate and potentially worry many Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ owners, it’s unlikely prying eyes (no pun intended) will have access to a high-resolution, close-up image of your iris and unless they’re armed with the picture, they can’t gain access to your device.

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Samsung Pay comes to the Gear S2 and the Gear S3 in the UK

Samsung Pay arrived in the UK last week after a long wait. The South Korean smartphone giant partnered with American Express, HSBC and Nationwide for the rollout of its mobile payment service in the country. Samsung has now extended the mobile payment service to its smartwatches. The update seems to be rolling out slowly in the country.

Customers in the UK can now use the Gear S2 and the Gear S3 to make transactions through Samsung Pay. The Gear S3 features both MST and NFC, while the Gear S2 comes equipped with NFC. However, MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) doesn’t work in the UK, so you’ll be able to use both these smartwatches for transacting through Samsung Pay just fine.

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You can now watch endless drone footage on your Samsung Smart TV

DJI, one of the most popular consumer drone manufacturers, has released an application for Samsung’s Tizen-powered Smart TVs, giving creators a new way to share their work with the world.

Rather suitably named DJI Smart TV, the application provides users with access to a huge library of footage recorded using the firm’s high-end drones, which start at a little under $1,000.

According to DJI, the purpose of the application isn’t (only) to sell more drones, but is to provide people with a platform to “travel to places they would have never imagined and see the world in a whole new way.”

“The DJI Smart TV App is now available on Apple TV and Samsung Tizen TV platforms, explains the company. “Once their Smart TV is connected to the internet, users can browse for the DJI Smart TV App” on Galaxy Apps.

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SK Telecom unveils the Samsung Galaxy Wide 2 in South Korea

Samsung and SK Telecom have unveiled a new budget-friendly smartphone, the Galaxy Wide 2, in South Korea. The phone succeeds last year’s Galaxy Wide, and comes with a newer version of Android as well as a slightly larger capacity battery. The device can be purchased through SK Telecom for KRW 297,000 (approx. $266). However, local users can get it for as low as KRW 100,000 (approx. $89) after discounts. The phone hasn’t been listed on Samsung’s website yet.

The Galaxy Wide 2 (SM-J727S) features a 5.5-inch HD LCD display with 2.5D curved glass protection, a 13-megapixel primary camera with F1.9 aperture, a 5-megapixel secondary camera, a 1.6GHz 64-bit octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot. The device runs Android 7.0 Nougat and comes packed with a 3,300 mAh battery. The Galaxy Wide was reportedly the best-selling budget smartphone last year on SK Telecom’s network.

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Samsung may supply OLED displays to Hyundai

According to a new report out of South Korea, Samsung’s display-making affiliate Samsung Display is in talks with one of the largest car manufacturers in the country to supply OLED panels. It’s reportedly in talks with Hyundai to supply OLED panels for its luxury Genesis sedan.

This will be the first time that Hyundai uses OLED panels in its car so it will be a big achievement for Samsung Display if it bags this contract.

A source familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald that “Samsung is in talks with Hyundai to supply its OLED display for Genesis’ instrument cluster and center information display.”

Talks between the two companies reportedly began last year and are said to be ongoing. Hyundai has some doubts about the technology as OLED displays haven’t really been proven as a viable option for in-car screens even though they rule the roost in mobile devices.

The reason why OLED panels haven’t really been used for in-car displays is because they are known to be relatively weaker in durability and brightness under direct sunlight than LCD panels. The source adds that Hyundai wants some samples first it signs the deal but Samsung is reluctant to provide it with samples as it wants to prevent technology leaks.

The scribe suggests that there is a high possibility that the companies will sign a deal as it will be beneficial for both of them. Samsung previously used to supply LCD panels for Hyundai’s in-car infotainment systems until 2013 when it decided to pull out of the automotive display business.

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