Samsung completes first 5G demonstration on a moving train

Samsung, in partnership with KDDI, has completed the first 5G demonstration on a moving train traveling at over 100km/hour. The test was carried out in the city of Saitama in Japan, near Tokyo, from October 17 through October 19 using the firm’s commercial end-to-end solution, which comprises of a 5G router (CPE), radio access unit (5G Radio), virtualized RAN and virtualized core.

Related: Samsung India begins R&D work on 5G technology

The demonstration yielded successful results, according to Samsung. In addition to an impressive download and uplink handover, as well as a peak speed of 1.7 Gbps, the testing parties were able to download an 8K video using the CPE installed on board the train and upload a 4K video to a file-sharing platform. We don’t, however, know how long it took to complete each individual task.

5G is powerful enough to transform the landscape of our daily lives

“The potential that 5G holds is powerful enough to transform the landscape of our daily lives,” wrote Youngky Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics, in a post published on the company’s Newsroom. “The success of today’s demonstration is a result of our joint research with KDDI, which we will continue to pursue as we explore next generation networks and use cases.”

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SamMobile Daily Recap: December 1, 2017 — Galaxy Note 8, Gear S3 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 published today.

Firmware News

Galaxy Note 8 November security update also rolling out in Europe

Samsung releases November security update for the Galaxy Note 8 in India

Phones

Samsung W2018 launched in China with world’s first F1.5 aperture phone camera

Samsung: There is no Microsoft Edition of the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Note 8

Watches

Tizen 3.0 update could introduce a nasty bug to your Gear S3

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

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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 we’ve listed.

Gear S3 classic

Mr. Time: Backlight by Mr.Time Lab

78 N Racer by Ivar Bergset

Gear S3 frontier

Mr. Time: Chrono by Mr. Time

Neutron by AS Design

The post Watchface Friday: Here’s our selection of this week’s best watchfaces appeared first on SamMobile.

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Samsung: There is no Microsoft Edition of the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Note 8

Just a day after the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were unveiled, it was revealed that Microsoft would be selling the two devices in its retail stores in the US with the Microsoft Edition tag. This was followed by the Galaxy Note 8 recently, which also became available for purchase from Microsoft’s store. A Microsoft Edition always felt unnecessary as Galaxy flagships come with some of the Redmond giant’s apps preloaded even on regular variants, and the company makes the rest of its apps available on Google Play. And, according to Samsung, there actually isn’t a Microsoft Edition per se.

Regular Galaxy S8/Note 8 served with tips on using Microsoft apps

So what are the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and Galaxy Note 8 that are listed in Windows Phone maker’s catalog? Well, now that we look closely at the phone listings, they don’t actually come with apps like Microsoft Launcher and Cortana loaded out of the box, with the product description mentioning clearly that these apps have to be downloaded from the Play Store. As the original announcement had said, anyone who walks into the company’s brick and mortar stores and purchases either of these phones is then guided by a store employee on making the most of the Microsoft apps.

Here’s Samsung’s official statement:

Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and Galaxy Note8 devices are available in the Microsoft online and retail stores with a unique Microsoft experience which ensures their customers, particularly small-to-midsize business owners and entrepreneurs, a best-in-class productivity experience. There is not a ‘Microsoft Edition’ brand of any Samsung Galaxy products.

So, um, we guess Samsung’s only making it clear that there is no such thing as a Microsoft Edition, even if Microsoft wants people to walk out of their stores (or checkout, for those who buy these online) with the intent of putting its apps to good use. What makes this rebuttal unique is that it comes a long time after the so-called Microsoft Edition Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ went on sale. Our guess would be that Samsung simply got busy with other things and was woken up when news of the Galaxy Note 8 Microsoft Edition started making the rounds.

In any case, point taken.

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Samsung W2018 launched in China with world’s first F1.5 aperture phone camera

Samsung’s latest flip phone, the W2018, has gone official at an event in China today. The W2018, like previous phones in the series, is a flagship offering in the flip phone form factory. It’s kind of a mix between the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8, with the Snapdragon 835 SoC, 6GB of RAM, Android 7.1.1 Nougat, and a single 12-megapixel camera at the back.

Samsung W2018 packs a world-first F1.5 aperture phone camera

The rear camera, while a single sensor, is the world’s first with an aperture of F1.5. That’s lower than the F1.7 sensors Samsung has employed on its mainstream devices and would allow for improved photos in low-light conditions, in addition to a higher degree of bokeh (background blur) effect with a single camera. When it comes to low-light performance, such low aperture could also make for too much noise in dark conditions, but Samsung has apparently built in a software trick to intelligently vary aperture between F1.5 and F2.4.

The rest of the specs of the W2018 are the same as revealed by earlier leaks. There are two 4.2-inch Full HD displays, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, a USB Type-C port, 64GB of internal storage, and a dedicated Bixby key. TENAA also lists 256GB in the storage section, so it’s possible a higher-end variant could be made available. The phone’s rather heavy at 247 grams, but that’s because of the traditional numeric keypad and the circular navigation keys that make the W2018 what it is: A flagship phone based on a nearly archaic form factor that still has a few fans around the world.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Samsung will launch the W2018 outside China. It could be made available in South Korea, but that’s pretty much it. Pricing for the W2018 is unknown right now, but we should get the official figure in the next few hours. Rumors say it could be as high as $2,000, which wouldn’t be surprising considering the segment of the market it will target. In any case, we’ll update this story as and when new information surfaces. Until then, take a look at this hands-on video of the phone to see how it looks in the flesh.

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Galaxy Note 8 November security update also rolling out in Europe

The newest update for the international Galaxy Note 8, which started rolling out earlier this week in Taiwan and the US, is now rolling out in a couple of countries in Europe as well. We have reports of the update being available in France for the unlocked variant and in Germany and Ireland for the Vodafone-branded Note 8, and we expect it to spread to a slew of other countries over the weekend.

Galaxy Note 8 November update out in Europe

Unfortunately, this is the same update as the one that rolled out in India earlier today, which means it doesn’t include the new Live Focus camera tweaks. Those seem to be reserved for the US variants and Taiwan for now. While the more feature-packed update could arrive in more countries, it looks like a lot of users are going to receive only the latest security patches. Whether the camera tweaks will arrive as part of a separate update or the one that includes the December security patch also remains to be seen.

If you have a Galaxy Note 8, you should see a notification for the update’s availability at some point in the next few days. Of course, you need not wait for that to happen and can manually pull the update from the Settings » Software update menu. Once you’ve updated, do let us know if you see any new features or changes that we may have missed.

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Samsung releases November security update for the Galaxy Note 8 in India

Samsung is now in the midst of distributing last month’s security update for the local model of the Galaxy Note 8 in India, following its arrival on the International variant earlier this week. We have some bad news, though: the upgrade doesn’t appear to bundle the new Live Focus controls that debuted in Taiwan and the United States.

Context: Galaxy Note 8 update brings more intuitive Live Focus controls

It’s a little strange that the firm has decided against introducing the new Live Focus features in India and neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, seeing as the rest of the upgrade is the same, bundling all of the security patches included in November’s release, as well as a number of additional bug fixes and stability improvements.

Related: November security patch fixes major Wi-Fi security flaw

That’s not to say that Samsung won’t release the tweaks for the unit by way of an update for the Camera application, though. They could even be bundled in December’s release. We don’t know how—or when—they’re going to arrive, but it’s safe to say they’re en route, because there’s no reason for them not to be.

How do I check to see if the OTA is ready for my Galaxy Note 8?

To check to see if the OTA is ready for your Galaxy Note 8, open Settings, select Software Update, then tap Download Updates Manually. Alternatively, you can always wait until you receive an alert prompting you to install the upgrade, though that could take a little longer to arrive—so we’d recommend opting for the former.

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Tizen 3.0 update could introduce a nasty bug to your Gear S3

Last week, Samsung started rolling out the much-requested Tizen 3.0 Value Pack update for the Gear S3 classic and Gear S3 frontier. A number of owners have since reached out to SamMobile, claiming that their battery life has taken a significant hit since installing the release.

It’s unclear what’s causing the issue and why it isn’t showing up for all users, including our team, but we’ve reached out to Samsung in a bid to obtain some more information and to ultimately make it aware of the bug. We will, of course, update this post if/when we hear back.

PSA: Reset your Gear S3 after installing the Tizen 3.0 update

In the meantime, we’d recommend factory resetting your Gear S3 classic or Gear S3 frontier after installing the Tizen 3.0 Value Pack upgrade. That will fix a frustrating bug preventing you from using customized watchfaces—and could also curb the battery-related issue.

Samsung should release a maintenance update

At the end of the day, Samsung will need to release a fully-fledged maintenance update to patch the issue; however, there’s no telling how long that will take—so you may need to plug your device in to recharge at least once a day—preferably at night—for the foreseeable future.

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