Samsung still leads the smartphone market in India

India is one of the most lucrative smartphone markets on the planet and Samsung continues to enjoy a strong leadership position there. The company has been able to hold on to its lead despite tough competition from Chinese rivals.

Some of China’s top smartphone vendors that also sell their products in India actually managed to push out all local manufacturers from the top five rankings in the final quarter of 2016. Samsung also shipped fewer smartphones in India during Q4 2016 due to mounting competition from Chinese rivals, but it held on to the lead.

The latest data from market analysis company Counterpoint Research reveals that Samsung leads the Indian smartphone market with a 24.1 percent market share. Samsung also leads the feature phone market with 26.6 percent market share.

It’s the same story in Q2 2017, as well. No local manufacturer is in the top five. Samsung is followed by Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and Lenovo. All four of them are based in China.

Segment-wise break-up shows that Samsung retains its top position in the premium segment as well with a 55 percent market share. The country’s smartphone market overall saw a modest 4 percent year-over-year gain during the second quarter of 2017, according to Counterpoint Research.

Just because Samsung has held on to the lead doesn’t mean it can rest on its laurels. With the pace that Chinese manufacturers have shown, the company has to work extra hard to ensure that it doesn’t lose the top spot to any one of them.

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Press render of high-end Samsung flip phone leaked

It has consistently been rumored over the past couple of weeks that Samsung has a new flip phone in the pipeline. Like some of Samsung’s other clamshell smartphones, it’s possibly going to be released in China only. Reports suggest that this handset carries model number SM-G9298, though it was previously referred to as the SM-W2018, and that it’s going to have high-end specifications.

One of the first purported press renders of the SM-G9298 surfaced online recently. We can see that the handset has a 4.2-inch external display, as expected, as well as an internal display of the same size. The displays are said to be of full HD 1080p resolution.

A recent report claimed that the SM-G9298 is going to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. Additional specs are said to include a 12-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front camera, 64GB storage and a 2,300mAh battery.

Since the handset is expected to have NFC, it’s going to support Samsung Pay. Wireless charging is also said to be onboard. Reports suggest that the handset will come with S Voice and that Bixby will not be available.

Samsung is yet to confirm when the SM-G9298 is going to be launched and if it’s going to be sold outside China. Reports suggest that it may be announced at some point in August.

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Samsung’s foldable Galaxy X smartphone receives Bluetooth certification

For a couple of years now, we have been hearing rumors about Samsung working on a foldable smartphone. Samsung is said to have shown prototypes of the handset to partners on multiple occasions. The company hasn’t officially confirmed this device but the rumor mill believes that it may not be long before it does that. Now, it appears that Samsung’s foldable Galaxy X smartphone has received its Bluetooth certification.

A Samsung device bearing model number SM-G888N0 has been spotted at the Bluetooth SIG which has awarded the device the required certification. This model number doesn’t correspond to any device in Samsung’s lineup right now, hence the possibility that it belongs to the unreleased Galaxy X handset.

The same model number was spotted at the Wi-Fi Alliance four months ago where the SM-G888N0 received its Wi-Fi certification. The Bluetooth certification document shows that the SM-G888N0 is carrying Bluetooth 4.2.

This seems a bit odd because recent flagships like the Galaxy S8 have support for Bluetooth 5.0 so it wouldn’t make sense for the company to ship its first foldable smartphone with an outdated standard. It’s likely that the device may be bumped up to Android 5.0 before it’s eventually launched.

Samsung is yet to confirm when the Galaxy X is going to be announced officially. If recent reports are any indication, it may be released either by the end of this year or by early 2018.

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Samsung may have revealed some Galaxy Note 8 camera features

There have been countless rumors about the Galaxy Note 8’s camera. It’s widely believed that the Galaxy Note 8 is going to be Samsung’s first flagship with a dual camera system. We can expect the flagship to come with several new camera features as well, some of which might have been revealed by Samsung itself.

Previous reports have suggested that Samsung Electro-Mechanics will be supplying the dual camera system for the Galaxy Note 8. There’s informational material available on the company’s own website detailing some of the capabilities of its dual camera sensor. It’s highly likely that this sensor might be used for the Galaxy Note 8 so the new flagship may have some of these features.

One of the features powered by this camera module is called “Smart Zoom,” and as per recent reports, it enables 3x optical zoom. The “Refocus” feature is the logical application of a dual camera sensor as it measures depth which can be used to blur the foreground or background after a picture has been taken.

Since the dual camera sensor can absorb more light, it provides better performance in low light conditions. “Perspective View” and “Background Effect” features are also mentioned, they will allow users to apply some creative tricks to their pictures.

It’s possible that the Galaxy Note 8 may come with some or all of the camera features mentioned in Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ informational material. Samsung is going to unveil the Galaxy Note 8 at an event in New York on August 23.

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Gear S3 frontier TUMI Special Edition blends luxury and technology

Samsung has teamed up with TUMI to launch the Gear S3 frontier TUMI Special Edition. For those who are unaware, TUMI is a leading global travel lifestyle brand. This smartwatch blends luxury and technology in a stylish design.

This special edition of the Gear S3 frontier takes inspiration from TUMI’s world-class design to serve as the ideal travel companion for users. The special edition watchband has been designed by TUMI in its signature Earl Grey colorway.

The band itself is made from an Italian canvas and features a stainless-steel buckle with stitched edge detailing. It’s also quite durable. The watchband is resistant to water, dust and rough conditions.

The custom look of this smartwatch is completed by a custom TUMI watchface. Everything else remains the same, it’s still the same Gear S3 frontier smartwatch that has been out for about a year now. All of the specifications and features are also the same so it’s not like customers will get more out of this smartwatch as far as functionality is concerned.

The Gear S3 frontier TUMI Special Edition is available for purchase online now for $449.99 on Samsung.com and BestBuy.com. It will also be available for purchase at select Best Buy retail retailers starting August 6.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 8 makes its way through the FCC

The Galaxy Note 8 is set to be unveiled on August 23, and if recent history is any guide, Samsung’s anticipated Note flagship should go on sale in markets like the US and South Korea within three weeks of going official. But no matter when the Note 8 will become available for purchase, it will need to be given the go ahead by the FCC, and the phone has now cleared that task.

As usual, the FCC certification isn’t giving us any details on the device. It does show the general shape of the handset, although the figure in the FCC listing looks too wide and short for it to be the official design. Samsung’s new Infinity displays on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are tall and narrow, and the Note 8 is going to following the same design scheme, as revealed by the company’s official press invite for the phone’s launch.

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

The Galaxy Note 8 is expected to feature a 6.3-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display and will be the first Samsung flagship to have a dual camera setup at the back. It is also expected to come with 6GB of RAM in all markets, with a 256GB storage variant also reportedly in the pipeline for select markets. For a rundown of everything that is known about the Galaxy Note 8 right now, check out this post.

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Leaked training manual reveals Galaxy S8 Active specs and official renders

The August 1 launch date of the Galaxy S8 Active is looking very probable at this point. Live images of the device were leaked online recently, and now, a leaked Samsung employee training manual obtained by Android Police is giving us more details on the Galaxy S8 Active’s features in addition to a few official-looking renders.

The renders show us the military-grade (and IP68-certified) body of the Galaxy S8 Active from all angles, including the dedicated Bixby key below the volume buttons. The body will surround a shatter resistant 5.8-inch Super AMOLED Infinity display (without the curves seen on the standard Galaxy S8 and S8+), and the battery will be getting an upgrade to a 4,000 mAh unit, same as last year’s Galaxy S Active handset, with fast wired and wireless charging carrying over intact.

The rest of the Galaxy S8 Active specs will match that of the standard Galaxy S8. There’s 4GB of RAM, 12-megapixel rear and 8-megapixel front cameras, 64GB of internal storage, and Android 7.0 Nougat (yes, not 7.1.1). The processor is the Snapdragon 835, which also powers the S8 and S8+ that are sold in North America and is slightly slower in performance than Samsung’s in-house Exynos chipset.

Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ review: Samsung brings us the future, but it’s not perfect yet

The Galaxy S8 Active will be exclusive to AT&T, but we will continue to hope that Samsung finds it in its heart to make the device available in other markets (or, at the very least, as an unlocked unit in the US). Details on pricing and availability aren’t available, but that should change as soon as the phone goes official.

Check out what you can expect from the Galaxy S8 Active in this post, and let us know whether you’re planning on picking one up whenever it goes on sale.

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