SamMobile Daily Recap: August 17, 2017 — Galaxy S7, 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 covered today.

Business

Analysts expect a slowdown in Samsung’s earnings growth in Q3 2017

Deals

Daily Deal: Save 65% on a pair of Level U Pro headphones

Firmware News

August security update now reaching the Galaxy S7 in the Netherlands

Phones

Galaxy S8 was the world’s best-selling Android smartphone in Q2 2017

Leaked Galaxy Note 8 brochure confirms major details

Samsung is backing a futuristic cable-free data transfer technology

TV

Shazam lands on Samsung Smart TVs to make music identification easy

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Galaxy Note 8 dummy leaves nothing to the imagination

You’ve all seen countless leaked images of the Galaxy Note 8 so far. Some live images of the handset were also leaked online recently. We have a pretty good idea now of what Samsung’s new flagship is going to look like. Nevertheless, there has been yet another leak today.

It’s not a render or a live image of the actual device. Images of a Galaxy Note 8 dummy unit have been leaked online today. These are the units that you see in cellphone shop displays across the globe.

The Galaxy Note 8’s impressive 6.3-inch QHD+ Infinity Display takes center stage. The design itself makes the handset seems like a stretched version of the Galaxy S8. That’s not a bad thing. The Galaxy S8’s design has been a hit. No wonder it was the best-selling Android smartphone globally in Q2 2017.

It’s hard to miss the dedicated Bixby button that’s placed below the volume keys on the left side. There’s a power button on the right side. The Galaxy Note 8’s much rumored dual camera system can be seen as well, placed alongside the heart rate sensor and the fingerprint sensor.

The images of this leaked Galaxy Note 8 dummy aren’t going to surprise anyone. They merely reiterate what we’ve heard so far about the new flagship. Samsung is due to unveil the Galaxy Note 8 on August 23.

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Leaked Galaxy Note 8 brochure confirms major details

Samsung is going to officially unveil the Galaxy Note 8 on August 23. We’ve already seen many leaked images and renders of this smartphone. There have also been countless reports detailing the specifications and features it’s likely going to have.

The leaks won’t stop until the handset is officially announced so it’s not surprising to see something new pop up. The folks at Ausdroid have received a leaked sales brochure for the Galaxy Note 8 which confirms some major details about the handset.

The leaked Galaxy Note 8 brochure confirms that the Galaxy Note 8 is going to feature a 6.3-inch QHD+ Infinity Display with S Pen support. It’s also going to feature an iris scanner and wireless charging. The Galaxy Note 8 will be IP68 dust and water resistant.

The Galaxy Note 8’s dual camera will have f/1.7 lenses with support for 2x optical zoom and Optical Image Stabilization. Since this is a Note device after all, it will be very easy to take notes, the Screen-off Memo feature will be onboard to jot down notes with the stylus even when the screen is off.

Samsung is going to offer it in Midnight Black and Maple Gold colors, as far as the Australian market is concerned. The new Deep Sea Blue color option may be limited to select markets. The brochure doesn’t reveal any pricing information for the Galaxy Note 8.

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Daily Deal: Save 65% on a pair of Level U Pro headphones

Amazon has slashed the price of Samsung’s Level U Pro Bluetooth headphones by 65%, meaning you can currently snag yourself a pair for $34.99, which is a fantastic price to pay for a set of earphones that are sweat resistant (and sound great).

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. You’ll need to hurry though, as Amazon has only set aside a limited amount of inventory for this deal.

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Samsung’s testing the Nougat update for the Galaxy A8, Galaxy A9 Pro and Galaxy Tab E

The Galaxy A8 (SM-A800), Galaxy A9 Pro (SM-A910X), Galaxy Tab E 8.0 (SM-T37X) and Galaxy Tab E 9.7 (SM-T560) have all been spotted on the Wi-Fi Alliance’s online database running Android 7.0, indicating that Samsung is in the midst of testing the long-awaited Nougat update for the devices.

Related: Galaxy A9 Pro spotted running Android 7.0

While it’s unclear when exactly the upgrade will start making the rounds, it typically takes anywhere from two-to-twelve weeks for an update to enter distribution from the day it receives approval from the Wi-Fi Alliance— that is, of course, if the firm’s decided that it’s definitely going to release it.

Android 7.0 Nougat brings a plethora of new features to the table, including enhanced notifications, improved application permissions, new emoji and refined battery saving tools, as well as an abundance of much-needed bug fixes, stability improvements and speed optimizations.

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August security update now reaching the Galaxy S7 in the Netherlands

Samsung has released this month’s security maintenance update for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in the Netherlands. The upgrade, which weighs in at approximately 23MB, transports patches for 50 vulnerabilities in the open-source Android operating system and 12 within the company’s own firmware, as well as a handful of other miscellaneous bug fixes.

Related: Samsung details the August security patch

If you own a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge and would like to check to see if the update is available for your unit, open up Settings, select Software Update, then tap Download Updates Manually. You don’t have to, though. You can always wait until you receive a notification prompting you to download and install the OTA—but it could take a little longer to arrive.

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

Now that the upgrade is making the rounds for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in the Netherlands, it shouldn’t be too much longer until it arrives on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ in the region. But we can’t fathom why Samsung has put its former flagships first, when an identical release is already being distributed for the latest models in a number of other countries.

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Samsung is backing a futuristic cable-free data transfer technology

Keyssa is a California-based startup backed by Tony Fadell who is also known as one of the fathers of the Apple iPod. Keyssa has developed a new technology for mobile phones to transfer large amounts of data without requiring wires or Wi-Fi connections.

Keyssa CEO Eric Almgren has confirmed that his startup has backing from Fadell as well as the venture divisions of Samsung and Intel. The company has raised more than $100 million from its backers.

The company’s “kiss” technology enables two mobile devices to be held close to each other in order to transfer large files such as HD movies in merely seconds.

Keyssa’s aim is to eliminate the need for bulky cable connectors inside devices like smartphones and notebooks. If it’s able to successfully bring its technology to market, this new wireless data transfer technique may then be found in a wide range of devices.

The company has teamed up with Samsung and Foxconn to bring this technology to mobile phones. Shankar Chandran, the head of Samsung’s venture division, mentions that the management team at Keyssa previously developed the technology behind HDMI connectors for video connections. Samsung hopes that Keyssa’s new data transfer technology will become similarly ubiquitous.

“Standards tend to get ecosystems built around them in a fairly complicated way,” said Chandran, adding that “What’s needed is a bunch of industry players across the value chain saying they’re going to build to that standard. And that’s really what we have.”

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Analysts expect a slowdown in Samsung’s earnings growth in Q3 2017

Samsung became the world’s most profitable tech company in Q2 2017. It posted an operating profit of $12.67 billion for the quarter, a 72.7 percent improvement compared to the same period last year. Revenue clocked in at $54.7 billion for the April-June 2017 period.

The company will certainly work hard to ensure that it maintains this momentum. Market analysts are of the view that we might see a slowdown in Samsung’s earnings growth in Q3 2017. Samsung is expected to post an operating profit of $12.2 billion for the July-September 2017 period.

It’s still going to be a significant improvement compared to the same period last year. Samsung posted $4.7 billion in operating profit for the third quarter of 2016. That itself was a year-on-year decrease of $1.93 billion.

The Galaxy Note 7 had a huge impact on Samsung’s earnings in Q3 2016. Prior to the flagship’s recall, Samsung was actually expecting a slight increase in operating profit for the quarter. It ended up having to deal with a recall that cost it billions of dollars.

Samsung’s operating profit for Q3 2017 is expected to drop quarter-over-quarter due to a slight decline in profits from its display business. Analysts expect that Samsung’s profitability for its OLED products will decrease as the price of LCD panels continues to fall.

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Galaxy S8 was the world’s best-selling Android smartphone in Q2 2017

Samsung posted record breaking earnings for the second quarter of this year. The company also retained its position as the world’s top smartphone vendor. The Galaxy S8 has helped Samsung in cementing its position in the premium segment of the market.

The latest data from Strategy Analytics shows that the Galaxy S8 was the best-selling Android smartphone in the world this past quarter. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ shipped more than 19 million units combined globally. No other Android smartphone came close to Samsung’s 2017 flagships.

Strategy Analytics estimates that the Galaxy S8 shipped 10.2 million units while the Galaxy S8+ shipped 9.0 million units worldwide in the second quarter of this year. These figures make Samsung’s 2017 flagship the world’s most popular Android smartphone.

The iPhone 7 remained the world’s most popular smartphone overall as it’s estimated to have shipped 16.9 million units, accounting for 5 percent of the global smartphone market share in Q2 2017.

Samsung’s flagships were far ahead of their rivals in the second quarter of this year. Xiaomi was the only other Android OEM to make it on the list.

Its Redmi 4A shipped 5.5 million units globally in Q2 2017 and took the third spot on the list of most popular Android smartphones in the previous quarter.

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Shazam lands on Samsung Smart TVs to make music identification easy

What do you do when you want to identify a song? You Shazam it. It’s one of the most widely used music identification services across the globe. Shazam apps are available on a variety of different platforms and the service has now landed on Samsung Smart TVs.

Samsung today announced the release of a new update for its 2017 Smart TV platform. The update adds Shazam to the Smart Hub of 2017 Samsung Smart TVs. The app makes it easier for users to identify songs that they hear on the TV.

Shazam on Samsung Smart TVs will enable viewers to identify songs that are playing in TV shows or films quickly and easily. They will be able to access song titles, artists, lyrics and albums with a single click while watching content. Shazam works with live TV as well as with content delivered over HDMI.

Viewers can even make use of the voice recognition technology in the Samsung One Remote to identify songs. They can speak into the remote and ask “What is this song?” to have Shazam look it up for them.

Shazam also gives viewers the option to stream the music they’ve identified and create playlists that can be accessed at any time. Samsung’s Smart Hub will provide the music content through streaming partners which include Spotify, Napster and Deezer to those who subscribe to any of these services.

Shazam is available in Samsung’s Smart Hub in South Korea, United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany starting today.

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