SamMobile Daily Recap: October 6, 2017 — Galaxy S5 Neo, Galaxy Note 7 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: Bag yourself a pair of Samsung’s Gear Icon X wireless earphones for 30% off Firmware News Galaxy A3...

Watchface Friday: Here’s our selection of this week’s best watchfaces

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another edition of Watchface Friday! For those unaware, every Friday, we highlight a selection of our favorite watchfaces for the Gear S3 classic and Gear S3 frontier. All of the offerings are available to download through the Galaxy Apps Store, so you can rest assured that you won’t have to search all over the Internet to find something...

Galaxy S5 Neo Blueborne fix has been released

The Galaxy S5 Neo Blueborne fix has been released today. Samsung rolled out a similar fix for the Galaxy S5 recently. Samsung updated the handset to Android 7.0 Nougat just last month. The August security patch for the Galaxy S5 Neo also arrived last month. This latest update only brings the Blueborne fix for this handset. The security patch level has been retained at August 2017. No new features and tweaks are included in this firmware update. Galaxy...

PSA: LibreLink is no longer compatible with the Galaxy S8

For some strange reason, LibreLink, the popular glucose-monitoring application for Android, is no longer compatible with the Galaxy S8 (and Galaxy S8+). The tool worked when the handset first launched back in April, but has since been disabled by way of an over-the-air maintenance update. We aren’t sure why exactly Samsung has decided to revoke the required permissions, but some readers believe it has something to do with the handset’s NFC chip not...

Galaxy A3 (2016) charging bug fixed by latest maintenance update

Samsung has started rolling out a much-needed maintenance update for the Galaxy A3 (2016) and Galaxy A5 (2016) in Europe, which fixes an issue that prevented the former from charging beyond 87 percent and transports a patch for a frustrating “IMS Service Stopped” bug that was affecting both handsets in the Netherlands. Related: Galaxy A3 (2016) Nougat bug prevents charging beyond 87% It’s unclear why exactly the Galaxy A3 (2016) was unable to...

Daily Deal: Bag yourself a pair of Samsung’s first-generation Gear Icon X wireless earphones for 30% off

You can currently bag yourself a pair of Samsung’s first-generation Gear Icon X wireless earbuds, which not only sport 4GB of storage for music playback, but also bundle real-time voice feedback for workout progress, for $139.99 (30% off). To take advantage of the promotion, all you need to do is hit the Buy Now button below. It would probably be wise to hurry though, as we don’t know how much inventory Amazon set aside for this particular...

Verizon now rolling out Android 7.1.1 Nougat update for the Galaxy Tab E 8.0

Verizon has today released the long-awaited Android 7.1.1 Nougat update—T377VVRU1CQH9—for the Galaxy Tab E 8.0 in the United States, following US Cellular’s rollout for its carrier-branded variant of the slate, which shipped running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, last week. The upgrade transports all of the features you’d expect to find baked into Nougat, including enhanced notifications, stricter application permissions, additional emoji and refined battery...

How Samsung used advertising to recover from Galaxy Note 7 recall

Samsung found itself in a world of trouble this time last year. Its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, would combust spontaneously. It recalled the initial batch of units and made tweaks but that didn’t do it any good. Samsung ultimately had to issue a second recall and discontinue the product. The rumors about the future of Samsung’s Galaxy Note lineup began. Some analysts felt that the Galaxy Note 7 recall had caused permanent damage to...

Galaxy S8 named Phone of the Year at Mobile Choice Consumer Awards

The Galaxy S8 was named Phone of the Year at TechRadar‘s annual Mobile Choice Consumer Awards on Thursday. The handset also took home the gong for Best Camera Phone of 2017, while Samsung was awarded the title of Manufacturer of the Year—and let’s face it, it isn’t difficult to see why. Cast your mind back to September, 2016. A revolutionary plus-sized smartphone hit the shelves, only to be recalled a couple of months later. Yes, we’re talking about...

Apple vs Samsung review request should be denied, says US DOJ

The Apple vs Samsung lawsuit has been an epic legal battle between the two tech giants. Samsung scored a win last year when the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in its favor. The apex court ruled that the infringement of design patents may only involve a component and not the entire product. This means that Apple can’t claim all proceedings from an infringing device. Apple had previously been awarded $399 million in damages as an appeals...

Galaxy S8 missing texts issue irks users

Quite a few people have complained about the Galaxy S8 missing texts issue. This has been experienced by many Galaxy S8 owners. It actually appears to be a common issue with the Samsung flagship regardless of the carrier. Galaxy S8+ owners have also complained about the very same issue. The text messages are either delayed or they don’t arrive at all. It’s unclear at this point in time what’s the cause of this issue. There hasn’t been any clarity...