Bixby Voice could be launched in India on September 30

Samsung launched its latest flagship phablet, the Galaxy Note 8, for the Indian market yesterday. During the launch event, the company also announced that it would launch Bixby Voice in the country in a few weeks, but it didn’t mention any particular date for it. Now, it is being reported that Bixby Voice will be launched in India on September 30. Bixby Voice competes with Google Assistant on Android devices and Siri on Apple’s iPhones and other products.

Bixby Voice will be available for the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and the Galaxy Note 8. Samsung mentioned that it has trained its AI-powered digital voice assistant for Indian accents in English, so it is expected to work better. Whether or not the company has made some additional improvements for the India market such as an ability to check Cricket scores remains to be seen. Earlier, the company had launched Bixby Voice in Korea, the US, and later, in 200 markets around the world.

The Galaxy Note 8 is priced at INR 67,900 (about $894) in India, and even before the price was announced, the company received over 250,000 pre-registrations for the phablet from Indian consumers. The phone went on pre-order yesterday, and it will be available for purchase starting September 21 in the country. Those who pre-order the phone will be eligible to receive a convertible wireless charger for free.

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SamMobile Daily Recap: September 12, 2017 — Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy Tab Active 2 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.

Deals

Daily Deal: Save 45% on an OtterBox Commuter Series case for the Galaxy S8

General

Samsung is preparing to start manufacturing Z-SSDs

Phones

Samsung aims to launch its foldable smartphone next year, according to DJ Koh

Samsung launches the Galaxy Note 8 in India, pre-orders start today

Samsung president DJ Koh confident of Galaxy Note 8’s success

Tablets

Galaxy Tab Active 2 makes its way through the FCC

Watches

Samsung’s smartwatches can help with senior care and employee safety

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Samsung president DJ Koh confident of Galaxy Note 8’s success

Pre-order sales of Samsung’s latest Note series smartphone have reached a record high in the US as well as in its home market Korea. The phablet, which goes on sale later this week in Korea, has already managed to gather over 650,000 pre-orders, far exceeding the Galaxy Note 7’s 380,000 pre-orders in 13 days since its launch. The company also launched the phone in India earlier today.

“Since the unpack event last month, many business partners and our buyers have told us that the initial response (for the Galaxy Note 8) is good,” Koh told reporters at a press conference in Seoul. He also said that Samsung has been receiving pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 8 in 40 countries since its official unveiling.

The 64GB variant of the Galaxy Note 8 is priced at KRW 1.09 million (about $965), while the 256GB variant costs KRW 1.25 million (about $1,107). Those who pre-ordered the Galaxy Note 8 in Korea will receive the device on September 15.

The South Korean smartphone giant will launch the Galaxy Note 8 in China tomorrow. The company holds a measly 3 percent market share in China, far below the market share of the top four players in the country: Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, which have a combined market share of a whopping 69 percent.

The Galaxy Note 8 brings a dual-12MP camera setup at the rear, which can capture images with background blur. Other than that, it also comes with an improved S Pen and a faster processor compared to its predecessor.

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Samsung’s smartwatches can help with senior care and employee safety

Samsung is using its wearable devices to showcase three solutions for senior care and employee safety. At the Mobile World Congress Americas expo that is happening in San Francisco this week, Samsung showcased Ability Wearables, Reemo, and Solo Protect services.

Ability Wearables’ real-time health intelligence system works with Samsung’s GearUP platform in help people like construction employees, healthcare workers, and truck drivers who can fall asleep on their work. This solution works with the Gear Fit 2 and the Gear S3, and helps in predicting and reacting to employee fatigue on the job.

“Samsung is pushing the envelope with its range of wearables. By applying this collaborative solution to employees at high-risk of fatigue, we believe we can help solve many of the fatigue-driven challenges facing today’s workers,” said Ability’s CEO Shiv Madan in a statement.

Reemo works with the Gear S3 and S2 to monitor the health factors of seniors in care facilities such as activity levels, heart rate, and sleep quality. This helps caregivers in offering better and customized care to people. Solo Protect is a 24 x 7 communications and monitoring service that provides emergency alerts, geo-location, and status of employees who work in high-risk environments.

Samsung is also developing exercize programs that work with its virtual reality headsets like the Gear VR, offering a virtual world even while consumers are using a stationary bike. VirZoom VR Fitness app from Life Fitness offers virtual cycling experience as well as virtual reality games.

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Daily Deal: Save 45% on an OtterBox Commuter Series case for the Galaxy S8

Amazon has temporarily slashed the price of OtterBox’s slim Commuter Series case for the Galaxy S8, which sports a dual-layer build for enhanced protection, by 45%, meaning you can currently snag yourself one for just $21.99.

If you like the sound of this promotion and want to take advantage of it, hit the Buy Now button below. We strongly advise you to hurry though as Amazon only has a limited amount of inventory available and it probably won’t be around for long.

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Samsung is preparing to start manufacturing Z-SSDs

Samsung has developed a Z-NAND chip and an accompanying controller, according to industry sources. The components are currently being put through a rigorous testing process, with the firm hoping to start production as soon as next year.

“Z-NAND is small in capacity as it is based on a Single Level Cell, in which one bit is allocated to each cell,” reports Business Korea. “A Z-SSD incorporating this type of NAND has a reading speed of about seven times that of a [standard] SSD.”

Related: Samsung’s new SSD is both affordable and portable

The creation of the Z-NAND chip and controller is all part of Samsung’s preparations to produce next-generation Z-SSDs, which will put it in prime position to compete with the 3D XPoint SSD chip manufacturer Intel, in partnership with Micron, showcased in April.

SSDs are replacing HDDs

It’s no secret that the traditional HDD is being phased out, because both manufacturers and consumers favor the smaller, less power-hungry SSD—and that’s resulted in a boom in the global SSD market; the total value is expected to reach $30 billion by 2021.

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Samsung aims to launch its foldable smartphone next year, according to DJ Koh

We’ve been constantly reporting about Samsung’s plan to launch a smartphone with a foldable display. It was meant to be launched sometime late last year or earlier this year, but the plans we postponed due to various reasons. Now, Samsung CEO DJ Koh said that the company is planning to launch its first foldable screen smartphone next year.

“We have a plan to adopt a foldable display in our roadmap. We are currently addressing some technological hurdles to commercialize such a device. We will launch a foldable device when we are fully ready, and we are aiming to do so next year,” Koh said at a press conference that was held three days ago in South Korea for the launch of the Galaxy Note 8.

This is the first time that Samsung has publicly mentioned its plans to launch such a smartphone. However, it’s still not clear whether the foldable smartphone will be a part of the Galaxy S lineup, Galaxy Note lineup, or something completely new. During the one-hour presentation, Koh reportedly spent a lot of time expressing gratitude to the fans of the Note series.

Since the Galaxy Note 8 pre-orders kicked off in Korea five days ago, the phone has managed to gather around 650,000 bookings. This is said to be a record breaking number compared to previous generation Note-series smartphones in spite of its high price tag of KRW 1.09 million. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to launch its tenth anniversary iPhone later today.

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Galaxy Tab Active 2 makes its way through the FCC

We’ve known that Samsung is working on a successor to the ruggedized Galaxy Tab Active for a while—and now the slate has been spotted passing through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States.

Two variants of the so-called Galaxy Tab Active 2 are reportedly in the works: a Wi-Fi-only model (SM-T390) and a version that supports both 4G LTE and Wi-Fi (SM-T395). The one that has been subjected to testing by the FCC is the latter.

Exclusive: Samsung is working on the Galaxy Tab Active 2 for Europe and Latin America

Unfortunately, we don’t have any specific details about the tablet, but we’re expecting it to be a lot more powerful than its predecessor, which featured a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB of RAM and a 4,450mAh non-removable battery.

The Galaxy Tab Active 2 should launch in Europe and Latin America later this year.

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Samsung launches the Galaxy Note 8 in India, pre-orders start today

After unveiling it globally last month, Samsung has launched the Galaxy Note 8 in India today. The phone is priced at INR 67,900 ($1,061) in the country and it will be available through select retail stores as well as Amazon.in and Samsung Shop starting September 21. The company will start accepting Galaxy Note 8 pre-orders today, and the phone will be available in Maple Gold and Midnight Black. Those who pre-order the phone will be eligible for one-time screen replacement and a free convertible wireless charger.

Samsung has also announced that its ‘Samsung Upgrade’ program will offer loyal customers in India a chance to get the best value when they trade in their old device for the Galaxy Note 8. The upgrade program, which is being offered in partnership with Cashify, will be accessible through the company’s My Galaxy app. Those who purchase the Galaxy Note 8 using an HDFC credit card will get a cashback of INR 4,000 (about $62.55). Jio customers would be eligible to get up to 448GB of extra data over the next eight months as well as complimentary Jio Prime membership.

The South Korean smartphone brand has also announced that it will launch Bixby Voice in India in the next few weeks. The AI-powered digital voice assistant will be available for the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and the Galaxy Note 8 in the country. The company said that it has optimized Bixby to understand English in Indian accents as a part of its ‘Make for India’ initiative. The Indian variant of the Galaxy Note 8 features an Exynos 8895 processor, 6GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, and a hybrid dual-SIM card slot. Unlike what was being rumored, Samsung won’t bundle the DeX docking station with the phone.

“Galaxy Note8 with its stunning Infinity Display, enhanced S Pen and a true Dual Camera, is designed for those who want to do bigger things. At Samsung, we listen to our consumers and bring in meaningful innovations that help make their lives better. With this launch, Samsung will further consolidate its leadership in the premium smartphone segment in India,” said Mr. Asim Warsi, Senior Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India.

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