Themes Thursday: This week’s four best new themes

It’s Themes Thursday! We’re bringing you a fresh list of best new themes that have been released over the past seven days, and there are four theme packs in today’s list that you might want to have a look at. All these themes are premium, and cost around $2 each, but the price can vary slightly, depending on the country.

The [Binod] CloudsUI is a good-looking theme with really well-done iconography and a brighter UI design. The Flat OS (Live) has a purple background, equally well-done icons, and a live wallpaper for the lockscreen. The Japan theme has interesting looking icons and a picture that looks like Mount Fuji in the background. The letgo_maldives [Premium] theme pack has a holiday-esque background and an AoD wallpaper to match.

Which theme did you like the most? I personally like the Flat OS (Live) theme. Let us know your choice in the comments section below.

[Binod] CloudsUI | Paid

Flat OS (Live) | Paid

Japan | Paid

letgo_maldives [Premium] | Paid

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SamMobile Daily Recap: July 27, 2017 — Galaxy S8, 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 went out today.

APK

S Voice update brings a new icon, and probably other stuff no one cares for

Business

Here’s how Samsung made an obscene amount of money last quarter

Samsung to cancel shares worth billions, announces $868.59 million cash dividend

Samsung’s Q2 2017 earnings cement its status as the world’s most profitable tech company

Things won’t improve for Samsung’s mobile division next quarter but this is how it will respond

Deals

Daily Deal: Bag yourself a pair of Level U Pro headphones for 65% off

Firmware News

Galaxy Tab A 9.7 spotted running Android 7.0 Nougat

Phones

Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have outsold the Galaxy S7 in almost all regions, says Samsung

Galaxy S8+ with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage launched in Russia

Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ and Galaxy Tab S3 receive certification for classified use in the US

Samsung reportedly working on two new 10nm Exynos chipsets

Samsung says the Galaxy Note 8 will be the best handset for media consumption

Samsung to bring the Rose Pink variant of Galaxy S8 and S8+ to Mexico

Samsung Pay

Samsung reportedly planning to expand its payment service to non-Samsung smartphones

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Samsung reportedly planning to expand its payment service to non-Samsung smartphones

After expanding its payment service to higher mid-range smartphones like the Galaxy A5 (2017) and the Galaxy A7 (2017) earlier this year, and more recently, to the mid-range Galaxy J7 Pro, Samsung is looking to expand the availability of Samsung Pay. It is now being reported that the company is planning to bring its payment service to at least two more mid-range smartphones later this year. Not only that, the South Korean smartphone giant wants to compete with Apple Pay and Android Pay by bringing Samsung Pay to smartphones from rival brands.

According to a report from Gadgets360, Samsung has internally decided to bring Samsung Pay to flagship smartphones from rival brands. This would require OEMs to use Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) specific hardware in their smartphones. Moreover, Samsung is also considering to launch an attachment that would work with the Samsung Pay app on smartphones from other OEMs and brands. Either or both strategies could be finalised, a source said Gadgets360. The company is reportedly planning to bring its payment service to the first non-Samsung smartphone by mid-2018.

According to market research firm Juniper, Samsung Pay (with its 34 million users worldwide) stands at the second position in the mobile payments segment after Apple Pay, which is said to have around 80 million users. Android Pay, with its 24 million users, is at the third position. Samsung is aggressively working to bring Samsung Pay to more smartphones and markets. It had launched the service earlier this year in India, and it works with the country’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as well as third-party wallet apps like Paytm.

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S Voice update brings a new icon, and probably other stuff no one cares for

Remember S Voice? Alright, I’ll wait a few seconds. Remember it now? Yes? Good. S Voice, the virtual assistant that Samsung never developed to any meaningful potential only to recently decide it once again needs to get into the business of virtual assistants, is getting an update today. It’s a major update as far as the version number is concerned (the version number has jumped from 3.x to 4.x), but we have no clue what it brings to the table in terms of changes and new features.

The S Voice icon has been updated to match the new theme that debuted on the Galaxy S8 and S8+, and we think the background transparency of the main S Voice screen has been increased. To be honest, none of us here at SamMobile have used S Voice in the last couple of years, so it’s hard to say whether this is anything other than an icon and version number upgrade. But should you be a regular user of S Voice, the changes should become clear as you start using the latest version, and you can let us know once you see something new or different.

The new version of S Voice should be showing up on your device in the coming days (you can check in the Settings » About S Voice menu inside the app to see if the update is available), and we also have the APK available for download in our APK section. The APK isn’t installing on the Galaxy S7 edge, throwing out the error that an existing version of the app already exists, but it does install on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. You know, just so you can have an alternative for Bixby Voice till the time Samsung decides to launch it in your region in your local language.

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Daily Deal: Bag yourself a pair of Level U Pro headphones for 65% off

You can currently pick up a pair of Samsung’s Level U Pro Bluetooth headphones for $34.99 (65% off). As well as delivering fantastic sound quality, this particular set of earphones are sweat resistant, which makes them perfect for anyone who frequently exercises.

If you like the sound of the Level U Pro headphones and want to take advantage of this promotion, simply hit the Buy Now button below. We know we say this a lot, but we’d recommend you hurry as Amazon has only set aside a limited amount of inventory for this deal.

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Galaxy S8+ with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage launched in Russia

Samsung has today launched the Galaxy S8+ with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory in Russia, following its release in Brazil on Wednesday. The handset, which debuted in South Korea back in March, is priced at RUB 64,990 ($1093) and is only available in one color: Midnight Black.

Aside from the increased RAM and storage space, this particular variant of the Galaxy S8+ is identical to the regular 4GB/64GB one, so it sports the same 6.2-inch Infinity Display, Exynos 8895 Octa CPU, 12MP rear-facing camera, 8MP front-facing shooter and 3,500mAh battery.

Related: Samsung launches Galaxy S8+ with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage in Brazil

Unless you store a lot of data — documents, images and videos — on your smartphone, there’s no reason to pick up this model over the standard base one; the 6GB of RAM doesn’t lead to any noticeable performance improvements and the 128GB of internal storage is overkill for the average Joe.

It’s worth bearing in mind that all variants of the Galaxy S8+ support microSD expansion, giving you the facility to increase memory to 320GB using a 256GB removable microSD card. However, if you’re using a dual-SIM model, you’ll need to give up a SIM slot for the privilege.

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Samsung says the Galaxy Note 8 will be the best handset for media consumption

Samsung released its earnings for the second quarter of the year today. The company has posted record operating profits and has become the most profitable tech company on the planet this past quarter.

The company has also revealed some details about its strategy for the second half of this year. Samsung expects demand for smartphones and tablets to increase in the second half due to strong seasonality, however, it is cognizant of the fact that there’s going to be strong competition from its rivals.

To that end, the company will be launching a new smartphone next month, the much-awaited Galaxy Note 8. Samsung has also said that it’s going to work hard to maintain the sales momentum of the Galaxy S8.

In a conference call with analysts this morning after releasing the earnings results, a Samsung executive mentioned that the Galaxy Note 8 will be well suited for those who like to consume a lot of multimedia content on their handsets.

“The Galaxy Note series, first launched in 2011, come with a range of multimedia features, including the large-size display, and S Pen, only available with the smartphone models,” the executive said, adding that the Galaxy Note 8 is going to have “more advanced, richer multimedia functionalities.”

Samsung is due to unveil the Galaxy Note 8 on August 23 in New York City.

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Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ and Galaxy Tab S3 receive certification for classified use in the US

Samsung’s high-end smartphones have been certified by the US government in the past, deeming them safe for classified use. Now, the South Korean smartphone giant has announced that its latest flagship smartphones and tablets have been approved by the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) under the Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation program.

The Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and the Galaxy Tab S3 have now appeared in the Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) list. This means these devices satisfy the rigorous safety standards to securely maintain classified information that is required by federal agencies and departments as well as other highly regulated industries and sectors in the US. Samsung also offers IPSec VPN client, offering a single solution for data security.

“We are committed to pursuing and validating our devices against the most stringent certifications available in the market to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our security-conscious customers. With this certification, our customers will be able to continue enjoying the ease of use they have come to expect on Samsung devices without having to compromise security,” said Chris Balcik, Vice President of Sales, Federal Government at Samsung Electronics America.

The Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation is commonly known as Common Criteria, and it is an internationally recognized standard that defines information security measures on IT products from vendors. It is used by 28 governments as a basis for their own certification schemes. Samsung uses the Mobile Device Fundamentals Protection Profile (MDFPP) v3 as the basis for the most recent Common Criteria evaluation.

Earlier, the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7, and the Galaxy S7 edge had received certification from the NIAP for classified use by the US government and federal agency officials.

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Samsung to cancel shares worth billions, announces $868.59 million cash dividend

Samsung has taken several steps over the past couple of years to boost shareholder value. It announced a $10 billion share buyback program in 2015 which was completed in one year. Samsung said that the $10 billion exercise contributed to a 20 percent increase in the stock price over the past year.

To further increase shareholder value, the company promised to increase the dividend yield on its shares. The company also launched another share buyback program worth $8 billion in 2016. The funds were used to purchase and cancel shares.

Three months ago, Samsung announced that its Board of Directors had approved a plan to cancel all existing treasury shares held by the company. The value of the shares at that time was $43 billion.

Companies retain treasury stock to use as a financial resource for merger and acquisition transactions. These shares are also awarded to employees. To limit the impact of this exercise on the financial market, Samsung said that it would cancel the treasury shares in two stages.

The first stage will see the cancelation of 50 percent of the entire holding which amounts to 9 million common and 1.6 million preferred shares. The second stage will be executed in 2018 after the board’s approval.

Samsung today announced that it’s going to cancel its own shares worth 2.0 trillion won ($1.8 billion). The company has also decided to spend an additional 1.7 trillion won ($1.4 billion) to acquire 670,000 common shares which will also be canceled.

The company has also announced a total cash dividend worth 965.35 billion won ($868.69 million) for shareholders which comes down to 7,000 won ($6.2) per share.

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Things won’t improve for Samsung’s mobile division next quarter but this is how it will respond

Samsung doesn’t provide shipment figures for smartphones in its quarterly earnings releases so it’s unknown precisely how many units the company has shipped in the second quarter of this year. We will soon see estimates from industry trackers, though.

The company today reported its earnings for Q2 2017. It has seen strong sales throughout the quarter which is the why the mobile business has brought in 30.01 trillion won ($26.9 billion) in revenue.

However, Samsung’s profit margins have taken a hit. The division’s operating profit for the quarter came in at 4.06 trillion won ($3.6 billion) as opposed to 4.32 trillion won ($3.8 billion) in Q2 2016.

The Galaxy S8 was Samsung’s flagship product throughout the quarter and the company says that it saw strong sales of both models. The Galaxy S8 might actually have played a big role in generating a big chunk of the profits because Samsung’s affordable options have taken a hit.

Samsung mentions in its earnings release that even though it saw strong sales of premium smartphones, its total smartphone shipments have remained at a similar level quarter-over-quarter due to decreased sales of mid-range and low-end smartphones.

It seems that the company has been let down by its affordable handsets but then again, it’s facing tough competition in that segment of the market, particularly from OEMs based in China. The Galaxy S8’s performance in the market could have been converted into more profit for the company had the mid-range and low-end products not seen decreased demand.

Samsung expects demand for smartphones and tablets to increase in the second half of this year due to strong seasonality. However, it also expects competition to intensify as competitors like Apple will release new smartphones. Samsung will counter that with the launch of a new Galaxy Note handset and it will also focus on retaining the strong sales momentum of the Galaxy S8.

The company is also going to increase lineup efficiency in the low-end and mid-range segments. It will actively respond to demand from emerging markets and maintain profitability with revamped mid-range offers like the Galaxy J series 2017 editions.

Samsung expects the mobile division’s revenue and profit to decline quarter-over-quarter in Q3 2017 due to increased marketing expenses in connection with the launch of its new Galaxy Note flagship as well as a slowdown in sales of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

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Galaxy Tab A 9.7 spotted running Android 7.0 Nougat

On Thursday, the first-generation Galaxy Tab A 9.7 (SM-T550) was spotted in a document on the Wi-Fi Alliance’s database running Android 7.0, leading us to believe that Samsung is preparing to distribute the long-awaited Nougat update for the slate in the not-too-distant future.

For those unaware, Android 7.0 brings a slew of new features to the table. In addition to enhanced notifications, improved application permissions and a ton of fresh emoji, the upgrade transports a multitude of essential bug fixes, stability improvements and speed optimizations.

It’s nice to see Samsung preparing an upgrade for the Galaxy Tab A 9.7 seeing as its already approached the end of its two-year support period, so it’s safe to say that this is the last major upgrade the tablet, which debuted running Lollipop, will receive.

Initially, we were worried that the Galaxy Tab A 9.7 wouldn’t be able to run the firmware smoothly, but after taking a closer look at its spec sheet, we’re convinced it will. Under the hood. it sports a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5/2GB of RAM and a massive 6,000mAh battery.

There’s no word on when exactly the update will arrive, but usually when a unit stops by the Wi-Fi Alliance running a fresh build of the open-source operating system, it takes four-to-five weeks to start making the rounds. It could take a little longer, though.

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Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have outsold the Galaxy S7 in almost all regions, says Samsung

When Samsung started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ a couple of months back, it was immediately evident that the new flagship was outperforming its predecessor as far as pre-orders was concerned.

However, once the initial hype died down and customers who really wanted to buy a Galaxy S8 purchased one, we started hearing reports about sales of the Galaxy S8 slowing down. Some reports went so far as to suggest that the Galaxy S8 wasn’t able to keep up with the sales trajectory set by the Galaxy S7 last year.

Samsung’s mobile chief DJ Koh refuted such reports recently by saying that this wasn’t the case and that the Galaxy S8 was performing very well. Samsung has now reiterated that claim in its Q2 2017 earnings announcement today.

The company has said that the strong sales of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones have contributed significantly to the increase in earnings of its mobile division. It also mentions that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have outsold the Galaxy S7 series in almost all regions.

Samsung has also revealed that the overall product mix has also improved now as the sales proportion of the Galaxy S8+ accounts for more than 50 percent of all Galaxy S8 sales.

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Here’s how Samsung made an obscene amount of money last quarter

You may have heard by now that Samsung made an obscene amount of money in the quarter ending June 2017. The company has broken its previous operating profit record and has become the world’s most profitable technology company in Q2 2017.

Samsung has earned $12.67 billion in operating profit on revenue of $54.7 billion, more than any other company. The operating profit has surged 72.7 percent compared to Q2 2016. This begs the question, how has Samsung been able to achieve this?

Semiconductor

The chip business continues to be a cash cow for Samsung, it is the biggest contributor to Samsung’s bottom line. The semiconductor business has posted consolidated revenue of 17.58 trillion won ($15.7 billion) for the quarter and an operating profit of 8.03 trillion won ($7.20 billion) up from 2.6 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in Q2 2016.

Consistently high demand for DRAM and NAND chips have pushed up prices which mean wider profit margins for Samsung. The company has taken full advantage of its position as a leader in the DRAM and NAND market to grab money with both hands.

Samsung’s System LSI Business, which is part of the chip division, saw its earnings improve quarter-over-quarter due to increased sales of processors for flagship smartphones and steady sale of 14nm processors for mid-to-low-end smartphones. Image sensor sales have also contributed to the earnings.

Display

Samsung’s display panel business remained in the green as well this past quarter, posting 7.71 trillion won ($6.9 billion) in revenue and 1.71 trillion won ($1.53 billion) in operating profit, up both quarter and year-wise.

The robust performance was driven by increased sales of premium OLED displays and high-end large LCD panels. The earnings for Samsung’s OLED business improved quarter-over-quarter due to increased shipments of premium flexible displays for flagship smartphones.

Mobile

All eyes were on the official figures from Samsung’s Mobile Division to get a sense of just how much the Galaxy S8 has contributed to the company’s bottom line. While strong sales have increased earnings significantly quarter-over-quarter, operating profit is actually down 4.7 percent.

Samsung’s Mobile Division reported revenue of 30.01 trillion won ($26.9 billion) for the quarter, up both quarter and year-wise. However, tighter margins due to rising component prices have restricted profitability. Operating profit for the quarter came in at 4.06 trillion won ($3.6 billion) compared to 4.32 trillion won ($3.8 billion) in the same period last year.

Samsung says that while the performance of its premium smartphones has been very strong, the company’s total smartphone shipment levels remain at a similar level compared to Q1 2017 due to decreased sales of mid-to-low-end smartphones.

Consumer Electronics

The Consumer Electronics Division, which includes Samsung’s Visual Display and Digital Appliance businesses, reported revenue of 10.92 trillion won ($9.7 billion) and 0.32 trillion won ($287 million) in operating profit, both down year-over-year.

Samsung says that the overall TV market demand declined in the second quarter due to increased demand in 2016. A slowdown in the Chinese market has also impacted the bottom line. Increase panel prices have also hit the profit margins.

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Samsung reportedly working on two new 10nm Exynos chipsets

Samsung’s first 10nm Exynos chipset, the Exynos 8895, was announced earlier this year, and it was used in the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+. Now, the company is working on two new Exynos chipsets that use 10nm FinFET fabrication technology. According to the information that has appeared on the Internet, Samsung could release the Exynos 7885 and the Exynos 9610 for its smartphones and tablets.

The Exynos 7885 is rumored to be a 10nm FinFET chipset with two ARM Cortex-A73 CPU cores (clocked at 2.1GHz) and four ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores. It will also use an integrated LTE radio and Mali-G71 GPU, but the information regarding the number of GPU cores hasn’t been revealed. The chipset could debut with the Galaxy A7 (2018).

The Exynos 9610 is a higher-end chipset based on Samsung’s 10nm FinFET technology, and it features a 64-bit octa-core CPU. It is rumored to feature four ARM Cortex-A73 cores (clocked at 2.4GHz) and four power-efficient ARM Cortex-A53 cores. Even this chipset is rumored to use a Mali-G71 GPU and a fully integrated LTE modem. The company has already started working on 7nm process for its upcoming high-end chipsets.

Samsung manufactures 10nm Snapdragon 835 chipsets for Qualcomm, but the latter has reportedly decided to move to TSMC for 7nm Snapdragon 845. Apple’s A10 and A11 chipsets, on the other hand, have been getting manufactured by TSMC, but it is being rumored that Samsung has recently convinced Apple to use its 7nm process for the A12 chipset.

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Samsung’s Q2 2017 earnings cement its status as the world’s most profitable tech company

Some people might have thought that Samsung had taken its eye off the ball with everything that happened since last year. There was the spectacular failure of the Galaxy Note 7 and a leadership crisis that landed the conglomerate’s heir apparent behind bars in a corruption probe.

Despite all of that, the company’s earnings guidance for the second quarter of this year suggested that it may become the world’s most profitable technology company. Samsung has announced the Q2 2017 earnings today and sure enough, it has earned more profit in Q2 2017 than any other tech company on the planet.

Samsung reported 61 trillion won ($54.7 billion) as revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, up 19.2 percent from the same time last year. The operating profit has surged considerably compared to Q2 2016. Samsung has posted an operating profit of 14.7 trillion won ($12.67 billion), an impressive 72.7 percent improvement compared to the same period last year.

The company has outperformed its own estimates that it released last month. Back then, it projected operating profit of 14 trillion ($12.1 billion) on 60 trillion won ($53 billion) revenue.

These impressive figures have made Samsung the most profitable tech company in the world this past quarter. This is also the first time that Samsung will overtake Apple in operating profit. Analysts expect Apple’s operating profit for the quarter to come in at $10.55 billion.

As far as other tech companies are concerned, the four top companies which include Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google reported an operating profit of $11.15 billion in Q1 2017 combined. Samsung has earned more than the four of them put together in a single quarter. Samsung is now on track to break its annual profit record.

The company says that its components business was a major contributing factor behind the earnings growth in Q2 2017 both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. Strong demand for high-density DRAMs and SSDs for servers works in Samsung’s favor.

The Display Panel Business was a big contributor as well as it expanded sales of flexible OLED panels for premium smartphones and high-value LCDs. The Mobile Business has been able to contribute more this past quarter primarily due to robust sales of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ but saw its operating profit margin decline slightly year-over-year due to strong component prices.

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Samsung to bring the Rose Pink variant of Galaxy S8 and S8+ to Mexico

After introducing the Rose Pink variant of the Galaxy S8+ in Taiwan, Samsung has announced that it will launch the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in Rose Pink in Mexico. These new variants will be available for pre-booking in the country from August 10. The South Korean smartphone giant has also partnered with Montblanc to offer pink cases to those who pre-book the devices from Telcel.com and AT&T.com.

The pre-booking period will last until August 16 after which the phones will go on sale. Montblanc’s pink case for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ can only be purchased by its registered customers or by Samsung Members who buy the Rose Pink variant of the phone from any of the authorized stores. The company has not revealed the pricing of this variants, but it should be the same as other color variants of the smartphone.

Samsung had partnered with Montblanc in the past for cases and covers for the Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, and the Galaxy Note 5.

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