SamMobile Daily Recap: October 20, 2017 — Galaxy S9, 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. Business Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong’s imprisonment could have long-term implications Deals Daily Deal: Take 60% off a pair...

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...

A massive Samsung showroom is reportedly being built in London

Samsung is reportedly going to open a massive showroom in London’s King’s Cross district. The new location is said to be a showcase for Samsung’s products and technology. It’s reportedly going to be located in the under construction Coal Drops Yard mall. The company is reportedly going to lease out the entire top floor of the Coal Drops Yard mall for its London showroom. The report suggests that it’s going to be more than just a conventional store...

Daily Deal: Take 60% off a pair of Active InEar headphones

Amazon has slashed the price of Samsung’s InEar headphones by 60%, so you can currently pick up a pair for just $12.09. For those unaware, these are the same earphones that ship in the box of the firm’s smartphones, with the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 being the only exceptions. If you want to take advantage of this particular promotion, hit the Buy Now button below. We’d advise you to hurry, though. Like most of the deals we highlight,...

[Poll] Should the Galaxy S9 iris scanner be ditched for a display-based fingerprint sensor?

There have been countless rumors that the Galaxy S9 might feature an optical fingerprint sensor. What that means it that the sensor will be integrated into the display itself. This was also rumored for the Galaxy S8 as well but Samsung decided against it because apparently, the technology wasn’t ready. Do you think the Galaxy S9 iris scanner should be removed if the Galaxy S9 comes with an optical fingerprint sensor? Would you feel better about it...

Samsung Pay updated with support for American Express in the UK

Great news for Samsung Pay customers in the United Kingdom: You can now add your American Express card to the payment platform to start making payments in both brick-and-mortar and online stores using your smartphone—or smartwatch. At the beginning of the month, Samsung Pay was updated with support for Co-op Bank, one of the United Kingdom’s largest financial institutions, and less than four months before that compatibility for HSBC and M&S Bank...

Galaxy J7 Pro October security update rolling out now

Samsung has now started rolling out the Galaxy J7 Pro October security update. Bearing model number SM-J730GM, the handset is an iteration of the Galaxy J7 (2017) and was launched earlier this year. The handset is available in several markets such as India, Singapore, Mexico and Thailand. The company is now rolling out the latest October security patch for this handset. The October patch is gradually filtering down to more Samsung devices after being...

Better Mortgage customers can now earn Rewards Points

Better Mortgage, a digital mortgage company attempting to improve access to home financing, has announced that it’s taking advantage of Samsung’s Rewards API to provide customers with Reward Points when they’re pre-approved for a mortgage, lock in a rate or fund a transaction. “Our new Samsung Rewards API is really important to bring innovative developers such as Better Mortgage into the Samsung ecosystem and provide greater value to our customers,”...

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong’s imprisonment could have long-term implications

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong was imprisoned earlier this year on charges of bribery and corruption. He has been sentenced to five years in jail, although he is appealing the sentence. Samsung’s outgoing CEO Kwon Oh-hyun says that while the business is going well today, his imprisonment could have long-term implications for the company. Kwon Oh-hyun recently announced that he was stepping down from the top job as the company faces a leadership crisis....

Samsung kicks off its annual Silicon Valley 5G Summit

Samsung kicked off its Silicon Valley 5G Summit, a platform for telecommunication industry participants to come together to discuss different ways to strengthen the upcoming commercialization of 5G technologies, on Thursday. “To power our mobile future—and lead the world in 5G service—we need to free up more spectrum and make smart choices about infrastructure. That’s why this discussion is so important,” said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. First...

Arianna Huffington’s new Samsung app will help you reconnect with life

Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post fame is also the founder of Thrive Global, a company that’s focused on wellness. The company has launched a new app called Thrive. The app is going to help you disconnect from your smartphone and reconnect with your life. Seems a bit ironic that you need an app to disconnect from your smartphone, but hey, that’s the world we live in now. “The Thrive App is...

Specs comparison: Galaxy Tab Active vs. Galaxy Tab Active 2

Samsung has today taken the wraps off the long-rumored Galaxy Tab Active 2 and naturally we want to see how it compares to its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab Active. Unfortunately, we don’t have the unit in our possession, so we can’t conduct any physical tests, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pit them head-to-head in a specs comparison. Specs comparison: Galaxy Tab Active vs. Galaxy Tab Active 2 Galaxy Tab Active Galaxy Tab Active 2 Display 8-inch...

Galaxy S8+ update brings October security patch, stability improvements

The Galaxy S8+ is now getting an update that brings the October security patch, following devices like the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy A5 (2016 and 2017). Once again, the latest security patch update seems to have hit the Netherlands first, but it shouldn’t be long before it makes its way to other regions. The update is available over the air as a 479 MB download and carries firmware version G955FXXU1AQI9. Galaxy...

[Update] Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 2 rugged tablet now official

Following weeks of rumors about the Galaxy Tab Active 2, Samsung has now officially launched its new rugged tablet. We were actually the first ones to report that Samsung was working on this tablet for Europe and Latin America four months ago. It’s the successor to the first-generation Galaxy Tab Active that was launched in 2014. Gerben van Walt Meijer, Samsung’s marketing manager in the Netherlands,...