SamMobile Daily Recap: December 15, 2017 — Galaxy A8 (2018), Galaxy S9 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 Fan Edition updated with the December security patch

Phones

Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S9 dimensions comparison reveal an interesting possibility

Official case surfaces in leaked Galaxy A8 (2018) renders

Samsung will reportedly launch new smartphones at CES 2018

Samsung’s making a limited edition Galaxy Note 8 case for South Korea

Synpatics in-display fingerprint sensor isn’t coming to the Galaxy S9

Watches

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

The post SamMobile Daily Recap: December 15, 2017 — Galaxy A8 (2018), Galaxy S9 and more! appeared first on SamMobile.

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

It’s Friday, so 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

Digital Design Blue by Digital Design

Hamilton by BFX

Gear S3 frontier

Mr. Time: Ferry Bomb by Mr. Time

Mr. Time: Mighty Blue by Mr. Time

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

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Samsung will reportedly launch new smartphones at CES 2018

The world’s largest consumer electronics convention will take place in Las Vegas next month and as always, Samsung is going to have a big presence at CES 2018. A new report out of South Korea suggests that Samsung is going to launch new smartphones at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Don’t keep your fingers crossed for the Galaxy S9, though. The new flagship is likely going to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona. That’s going to take place in the last week of February.

Samsung at CES 2018

The report out of South Korea claims that Samsung is going to unveil the Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A8+ (2018) at the Consumer Electronics Show next month. That won’t surprise anyone. Samsung is already expected to unveil its new premium mid-range handsets in January.

Perhaps the company might also unveil the rumored Galaxy J2 (2018) at CES as well. Samsung is yet to confirm any of this so it remains to be seen what its mobile division announces at the event.

Samsung also unveils new consumer electronics devices at CES every year so we can expect to see new TVs and home appliances. The new notebooks that the company announced earlier this week will be showcased at CES 2018 next month as well.

The post Samsung will reportedly launch new smartphones at CES 2018 appeared first on SamMobile.

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Official case surfaces in leaked Galaxy A8 (2018) renders

It’s only a matter of time before Samsung unveils its new Galaxy A series handsets. They won’t be called the Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 (2018) as previously expected. The new handsets are expected to be called Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A8+ (2018).

Several images and renders of the handsets have already been leaked online. The latest leak also gives us a glimpse of an official case for the Galaxy A8 (2018).

Leaked Galaxy A8 (2018) renders

The renders confirm many reports that we’ve heard about this handset so far. It’s going to jump on the bezel-less bandwagon as well by ditching the physical home button. There’s going to be a dual camera on the front while the fingerprint sensor will be positioned underneath the single 16-megapixel rear camera. The renders also give us a glimpse of what appears to be the official flip cover for this handset.

Previous reports also suggest that the device will be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 7885 processor with 4GB of RAM and up to 64GB of internal storage. The handset will run Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box but will certainly receive an update to Oreo and the next major Android platform update that arrives after it.

Samsung is yet to confirm when it’s going to unveil the Galaxy A8 (2018). An announcement is expected early next year. That’s when the 2017 Galaxy A series was unveiled earlier this year.

The post Official case surfaces in leaked Galaxy A8 (2018) renders appeared first on SamMobile.

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Samsung’s making a limited edition Galaxy Note 8 case for South Korea

The Galaxy Note 8 isn’t getting any special color variant like the Burgundy Red Galaxy S8 Samsung unveiled two weeks ago, but the company is releasing a special edition case for its latest Note flagship in South Korea. Developed in partnership with local design firm 99AVANT, the case will come bundled with the 256GB Galaxy Note 8, with only 99 units of the case to be made in total.

The case that shall not be named, only numbered

Each case will be numbered to mark its exclusivity, and once snapped on to the back of a Galaxy Note 8, apply a special theme on the phone to go along with its design. The case won’t be sold separately, and the bundle that includes the case and a 256GB Galaxy Note 8 will be priced at 1.99 million won (roughly $1,830). Since the 256GB variant of the phone itself had launched at 1.25 million won (roughly $1,150), you can see why this case will be produced in limited numbers as a special edition. It’s costlier than the Swarovski SMARTgirl Limited Edition Galaxy S8+ launched in Spain, despite not having the same amount of glitz.

The case goes on sale on December 19th from Samsung’s official website.

The post Samsung’s making a limited edition Galaxy Note 8 case for South Korea appeared first on SamMobile.

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Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S9 dimensions comparison reveal an interesting possibility

Some fresh renders of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ were leaked online yesterday giving us an idea of what to expect from Samsung’s next flagship. The leaks were accompanied by purported dimensions of the new handsets which when compared with the predecessors reveal an interesting possibility.

Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S9 dimensions comparison

Assuming that yesterday’s leak is accurate, the Galaxy S9 will measure 147.6 x 68.7 x 8.4mm compared to the Galaxy S8’s 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0mm. The upcoming flagship is expected to retain the Galaxy S8’s aspect ratio and will likely look the same as well.

157.7 x 73.8 x 8.5mm are the purported dimensions for the Galaxy S9+ as compared to 159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1mm for the Galaxy S8+. You’ll notice that both new models are 0.4mm thicker when compared to their predecessors.

This means that both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will have slightly more space inside the shell. Could this mean that both handsets will have slightly bigger batteries? It’s difficult to ascertain just how much of an increase in battery capacity this is going to allow.

The added thickness might also for a significant reconfiguration of the handsets’ internals which makes it a bit difficult to predict the battery size at this point in time.

It’s an interesting possibility, nonetheless, one that we’ll likely be hearing more about in the near future.

The post Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S9 dimensions comparison reveal an interesting possibility appeared first on SamMobile.

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Synpatics in-display fingerprint sensor isn’t coming to the Galaxy S9

We already laid out several reasons why Synaptics’ newly announced in-display fingerprint sensor had little chance of making its way into the Galaxy S9, and it looks like it has indeed been confirmed that the new sensor will not be seen on a Samsung phone. Instead, it’s Chinese manufacturer Vivo that will claim the honor of being the first to offer a phone with an in-display fingerprint sensor. Vivo isn’t a “top five OEM” as Synaptics had put it, according to the latest IDC data. But it comes under the same parent company as Oppo (which ranked fourth in Q3 data by IDC), and we’re guessing Synaptics thought that was enough when they issued their press release.

In-display fingerprint sensor to debut on a Vivo smartphone

Vivo was actually the first phone manufacturer to show everyone a prototype device with an under-display sensor, although the sensor at the time came from Qualcomm. The confirmation that Vivo’s upcoming phone will have the new Synaptics sensor (named Clear ID FS9500) comes from analyst Patrick Moorhead. Writing for Forbes, Moorhead has revealed that he had some hands-on time with the pre-production unit that had a working in-display fingerprint sensor. The phone has a CMOS sensor embedded under the AMOLED display and reads the user’s fingerprint at the lower part of the display. It’s apparently “faster” than expected, and you can see the image of the device at the source link.

Being one of the top Chinese manufacturers, Vivo has been responsible for quite a few achievements, including putting a 500+ ppi display on a smartphone before it became the norm a few years ago. It looks to be the same for fingerprint sensors that reside under a phone’s display, and we’re guessing this is the only proof one needs that the Galaxy S9 isn’t going to be on the receiving end of Synaptics’ new fingerprint sensor. Well, this and all the rumors and leaks that make it certain the fingerprint sensor will be at the back of the S9, albeit in a not-frustrating position.

Anyone disappointed?

The post Synpatics in-display fingerprint sensor isn’t coming to the Galaxy S9 appeared first on SamMobile.

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Galaxy Note Fan Edition updated with the December security patch

Samsung’s primary purpose for launching the Galaxy Note Fan Edition (FE) was no doubt reducing the impact on the environment from the Galaxy Note 7 recall, but it doesn’t look like the company’s compromising on software support despite the phone’s limited reach. The December security patch update is rolling out to the Galaxy Note FE as we write this, with carrier variants of the device in Samsung’s home country currently on the receiving end. This follows just a few days after the Galaxy Note 8 was updated with the latest security patch.

Galaxy Note FE’s December security patch should hit more markets soon

The update will hopefully come to other markets where the Note FE is available, although we can’t say that’s a guarantee considering Samsung often misses out on some monthly updates in a few countries even for flagship phones. Not that the Galaxy Note FE is anything less than a flagship with a small battery the only kink in its armor, and the Korean giant has been offering regular updates to the device since it went on sale in various markets.

In any case, if you own a Galaxy Note FE, see if the update is available for your phone by going into the Settings » Software update menu, then tapping the Download updates manually option.

Firmware Details:

Model	SM-N935L
Model name	Galaxy Note Fan Edition
Country	Select country Korea (LG Uplus) (LUC)
Version	Android 7.0
Changelist	12291486
Build date	Fri, 22 Sep 2017 10:21:45 +0000
Security Patch Level	2017-08-01
Product code	LUC
PDA	N935LKLU3AQI4
CSC	N935LLUC3AQI4

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