Accidental Galaxy S7 edge Oreo release: A conspiracy, or an honest mistake?

When the Nougat beta program for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge ended, it was exactly 13 days later that the official Nougat update first rolled out to the S7 and S7 edge. Only beta users were on the receiving end for the initial few days, but Samsung did make good time in getting the update out the door soon after concluding the beta program. The Android 8.0 Oreo beta for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ debuted at around the same time as the Nougat beta a year before, but it went on far longer, partly because Samsung included a handful of additional countries for testing.

Yet, we have been hoping that the turnaround time for the official Oreo update will be similar to that for Nougat on the S7 and S7 edge. And, coincidentally, the fluke Android 8.0 Oreo release for the Galaxy S7 edge a few hours ago happened at around the moment the S8 and S8+ should have begun receiving the update, if we go by the timeline of the first official release of Nougat last year. The Oreo beta program came to a final halt on January 26th, when Samsung announced the last date of beta testing for the US variants, and January 26th would be somewhere between 12 to 13 days before now depending on your time zone.

Galaxy S7 edge Oreo update: Fluke, deliberate, or both?

That got me thinking: Did someone at Samsung just push out the update to the wrong device? Of course, development on Oreo for the S7 and S7 edge is probably not complete yet, but then there’s no word on what state the S7 edge Oreo update has been released in. It certainly seems to be the real deal; it has, at the very least, got our attention, with all of us here at SamMobile furiously mashing the software update button on our S8 and S8+ at this point.

Was this just an honest mistake, or is it the company’s way of teasing us even further? The latter is unlikely, as not a lot of people are going to be sitting around counting down the days as we have been. Or, well, given the excitement and anticipation for such major OS upgrades, there are probably quite a few users – those part of the beta program in particular – who may have been crossing days off the calendar.

There’s no way to tell, of course, and you should probably just pass this article off as the ramblings of an impatient Galaxy S8 owner trying to find a conspiracy or connection where there is none. All we can do is wait for the fateful day to arrive, like we’ve been doing for nearly two weeks at this point (or three months, for those who weren’t able to get in on the beta program).

Don’t Miss: What’s New With Android 8.0 Oreo

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Galaxy S7 edge Android 8.0 Oreo update rolled out in Vietnam by mistake

Samsung is yet to confirm when it’s going to release the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+. The beta program ended a couple of weeks back and there’s still no confirmation about the public release. We confirmed yesterday that Samsung is working on the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge and several other devices. However, it appears one lucky user has already received said update on their Galaxy S7 edge.

A lucky Galaxy S7 edge owner in Vietnam seems to have received firmware version G935FXXU2ERB2 which bumps them up to Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.0. We can confirm that it’s a real OTA update.

Galaxy S7 edge Android 8.0 Oreo update

It’s obviously impossible that Samsung will release Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge before it’s out for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy Note 8.

This is likely a mistake on Samsung’s part and the update was erroneously pushed out to this user. It could be a dev version of the update or perhaps it was leaked by someone over at Samsung Vietnam.

Don’t think that this is the first time something like this has happened. We’ve seen the exact same thing happen in the past as well with previous Android platform updates and witnessed it most recently just last month when someone received the Oreo update on their Galaxy Note 8.

It’s unclear right now how long Galaxy S7 owners will have to wait before they get a taste of Oreo. The handset wasn’t even a part of the beta program. One can imagine that it’s going to at least be a couple of months before the Android 8.0 Oreo update is rolled out for this device.

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Samsung to conduct first multi-vendor 5G trial in Europe with Cisco and Orange

Samsung has been working with partners in key markets across the globe to showcase how far its 5G technology has come. The company conducted its first multi-vendor 5G trial with Verizon and Cisco in the United States nine months ago as part of Samsung’s focus on early ecosystem development with IT and telecom partners to build alignment and stability around the 5G platform. It will now conduct the first multi-vendor 5G fixed wireless trial in Europe with Cisco and Orange.

First multi-vendor 5G fixed wireless trial in Europe

Samsung, Orange and Cisco will work together on a 5G millimeter wave trial in the second half of this year across multiple homes in Romania. This trial will make Orange the first operator to conduct a multi-vendor 5G fixed wireless access customer trial in Europe.

The trial will be conducted over a month-long period and will be set up as a multi-vendor environment. The idea here is to demonstrate how 5G can complement existing fiber networks to provide users with high-speed bandwidth services.

Samsung and Cisco will provide Orange with an end-to-end solution for a gigabit-powered experience to trial customers. Samsung will supply the commercial 5G home routers, 5G Radio Access Units and 5G radio frequency planning services.

Samsung continues to focus on the advancement of 5G technology and these trials will help promote this next generation network. The company recently demonstrated a video call over 5G and also revealed a prototype 5G tablet. 5G networks are expected to go live in some parts of the world by next year.

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Galaxy C10 Plus surfaces in Antutu benchmark

Unlike the Galaxy A series smartphones, Samsung’s midrange Galaxy C series phones don’t get much attention from the press and the public due to their limited availability. We’ve been hearing reports about a new Galaxy C series handset for quite some time now and one appears to have surfaced on the benchmarking website AnTuTu.

New Galaxy C10 Plus may use a Snapdragon 660 processor

A Weibo user has posted a screenshot of an Antutu benchmark revealing some specifications of the Samsung SM-C9150 aka Galaxy C10 Plus. According to the screenshot, the Galaxy C10 Plus will come with a Full HD Display, Snapdragon 660 processor, Adreno 512 GPU, 6GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It runs Android Nougat 7.1 but will most certainly be eligible for an Oreo update.

It is worth mentioning here that any information revealed in Antutu benchmarks is not completely reliable and can be faked easily. Still, none of the specs mentioned for the Galaxy C10 Plus are too farfetched and are in line with expected incremental upgrades by Samsung. It also merits mentioning here that the Galaxy C10 Plus was present on the list of unannounced Galaxy device codenames revealed by a leaked Galaxy Note 8 Oreo beta firmware.

No further information is available at this point in time so it’s unclear when the new Galaxy C10 Plus will be launched and if it’s going to make its way to markets other than China and India.

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This is how the Galaxy S9’s super slow-mo feature might work

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be able to capture what Samsung is calling “super slow-mo” videos, and the feature is expected to be awesome enough that it could make up for the lack of a dual camera setup on the regular S9, at least from the leaks and rumors that we’ve seen until this point. The feature was first revealed when an image of the S9’s retail box was leaked, and thanks to our sources, we’ve been able to glean some information on how the super slow-mo feature might work.

Galaxy S9 super slow-mo feature will have different modes

First, the feature will have two methods of capture. There will be the regular method where you tap the shutter button to start recording the moment you want to capture in slow motion. In the other method, the user would be required to tap the record button, but the camera will only record slow-motion video when something moves in the frame. This would be similar to the rear-cam selfie mode that we’ve seen on Samsung’s phones, which automatically captures selfies once the camera detects faces inside an adjustable frame on the viewfinder.

Clearly, the second method would be for moments where you want to be ready to capture a moment well in advance, as opposed to capturing something in slow-mo without prior intimation. To speculate, maybe the camera’s algorithms would allow it to detect various scenarios, such as a skateboarder who’s about to pull off some tricks. You would just keep the camera trained at the skateboarder, and the phone would do the rest. Again, this is just speculation, but certainly an interesting use case.

Samsung’s slow-motion feature will also take inspiration from the Sony Xperia XZ by offering a mode where users can start recording a normal video, then tap on an additional button that shows up to take slow-motion at specific moments. On the Xperia XZ, the camera records regular videos at 30 fps and speeds it up to 960 fps when the user taps the slow-motion button, and Samsung’s implementation seems to be quite similar. There will be support for capturing up to 20 slow-mo moments in this method from what we’ve been told.

What we still don’t know are the resolution and speed at which the S9 and S9+ will capture slow-motion video. The official specs for Samsung’s new ISOCELL camera sensor suggest that the devices could go up to 480 fps at Full HD (1080p), translating to 960 fps at 720p. People have rightly pointed out that 960 fps recording would have to be supported by the image sensors on both the Exynos and Snapdragon chips that Samsung will employ for the S9 and S9+, but that may not be an issue since the Snapdragon 835 was able to do it on the Xperia XZ Premium.

Yes, the XZ Premium does it in short bursts, and maybe that’s where the limit of 20 slow-mo moments would factor in. Again, there’s no telling for now, but given Samsung’s usage of the term “super slow-mo”, the S9 and S9+ will have to create impressive results with slow-motion videos. Well, unless the camera’s variable aperture is the major highlight, which, if we’re honest, might actually be enough to support Samsung’s lofty claim of a “reimagined camera.”

Also Read: What to expect from the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+

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Samsung launches world’s first 3D Cinema LED screen

Samsung makes all kinds of displays, including theatre screens called Cinema LED. Samsung’s Cinema LED screens have been gradually making their way to various markets around the world. At ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) 2018, the largest commercial display exhibition in Europe, Samsung has formally launched a 3D version of the Cinema LED Screen.

Samsung Cinema LED screens offer many advantages compared to the existing film projectors in theatres in terms of picture quality. Samsung is building on these strengths by launching a 3D version of its Cinema LED screen. Considering many big-budget Hollywood movies are made in 3D, these screens should be appealing to theatre owners in many parts of the world.

Incorporates 3D technology without sacrificing brightness and resolution

According to Samsung, wearing 3D glasses over existing 3D cinema screens result in brightness dropping to one-third level compared to 2D films and resolution being halved. Samsung says they have made the 3D Cinema LED screen to overcome some of these limitations. The company claims to have incorporated the 3D technology into the Cinema LED screen without compromising on brightness and resolution.

Dizziness is one of the common complaints associated with watching 3D movies. Samsung claims its 3D Cinema LED screen significantly reduces dizziness by retaining brightness level and eliminating many of the display-related factors triggering it. None of this 3D magic comes at the expense of screen quality either. The 3D Cinema LED screen has the same viewing angle as the regular Cinema LED variant. This allows viewers, no matter where they are seated, to enjoy the film with less distortion.

Whether all these are just PR claims, or a reality will be known only viewers get a chance to see the screen in action. Samsung hasn’t announced any theatres equipped with its 3D Cinema LED screens yet.

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Camera comparison: Galaxy A8+ (2018) vs Galaxy A7 (2017)

The Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ (2018) are Samsung’s first smartphones with dual front cameras, which, as we noted in our review, impressed us with their performance. On the back, the 16-megapixel sensor has carried over with the same megapixel count from the A5 (2017) and A7 (2017), but now has a larger aperture (F1.7) for enhanced low-light performance. The primary front camera is also a 16MP sensor, while the secondary sensor is an 8MP unit that helps take Live Focus photos like the ones we saw from the rear camera on the Galaxy Note 7.

In short, the camera specs on this year’s A series phones have gotten a notable bump in some key areas, but how do these cameras perform compared to those on the 2017 models of the Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7? We used the Galaxy A7 (2017) and Galaxy A8+ (2018) to take a couple of pictures to answer that question.

Note: Since the Galaxy A5 (2017) and A8 (2018) have the same camera hardware as their larger siblings, this camera comparison applies to the A5 and A8 as well.

Camera comparison: Galaxy A8+ (2018) vs Galaxy A7 (2017)

First, let’s talk about the rear camera. The rear camera benefits from a higher aperture and support for real-time HDR, so performance in poor lighting and against bright subjects is slightly better than the A7. Detail in photos taken in bright natural light is at par with the A7, and so is the detail in low-light shots, which is to say both phones lose out on detail in tough lighting conditions.

But colors are dialed down on the A8+ and are closer to the actual subject, although this can turn out to be a disadvantage at times. That’s especially true in low-light pics where, sadly, the A8+ is also prone to blurring things out like the A7 if you’re not holding the phone stable enough. The A8+ doesn’t suffer from camera shake as much as its predecessor, but it’s still a problem that mars the overall experience.

Selfies is where the Galaxy A8+ (and Galaxy A8) truly shines. Camera shake was also an issue with the front camera on last year’s A series phones, but it’s pretty much non-existent on the 2018 models. In most scenarios, the A8+ was able to recreate skin tones more accurately. The resolved detail, however, isn’t anything to write home about. The A7’s photos come out quite soft for the high-resolution sensor, and the A8+ isn’t much different in that regard.

We also put the Live Focus feature on the A8+ to test against the software-based bokeh mode that was introduced on the 2017 models with an update (check out the second selfie sample). Here, the A8+’ dual cameras do a great job. The A7, working without dedicated hardware for bokeh photos, messes up the areas around the subject. Not surprising, and this is why the A8 and A8+ are great options if taking selfies is an essential part of the smartphone experience for you.

In fact, the front cameras are the only reason one should consider upgrading from last year’s A series phones, and even the 2016 models, as far as the imaging experience is concerned. The rear camera still doesn’t have what it takes to offer pleasing results in any scenario other than daytime conditions. When you move indoors or take pictures in poor lighting, camera shake continues to be an issue and can ruin many photos, forcing you to take the same photo a couple of times to get the right shot. Again, with selfies camera shake isn’t an issue, and with the excellent Live Focus mode, the 16MP+8MP front camera combination is what makes the A8+ (and the A8) stand out.

Check out the comparison camera samples below. Slide right to see the Galaxy A8+ photo and left to see the A7 (2017) photo. Since our back-end doesn’t currently allow for zooming in on comparison samples, we’ve also added all the samples to a Google Photos album, which you can check out for a better look.

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Samsung Olympic Showcases will highlight innovative experiences at the Winter Olympics

Samsung has long been a supporter of the Olympics and it’s now the Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications and Computing Equipment category. The company is going to use this platform to showcase some innovative experiences powered by its technologies to fans, athletes and officials at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. It will set up multiple Samsung Olympic Showcases to encourage fans and athletes to “Do What You Can’t” through its fun and immersive experiences.

Samsung Olympic Showcases at the 2018 Winter Olympics

To commemorate this year’s games, Samsung has made a PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition Galaxy Note 8. It will deliver over 4,000 units to the entire PyeongChang 2018 Olympic family, athletes and organizing committee members included. It has made the The Official App of PyeongChang 2018 for everyone else. The all-in-one app gives real-time athlete information, updates, Olympic and Paralympic records as well as medal standings.

A total of nine Samsung Olympic Showcases will be set up throughout the Winter Olympics to highlight cultural, technological and immersive fan experiences in PyeongChang and Gangneung. They will be located at Olympic Parks and the Olympic Villages as well as the Main Press Center. Four of them will also be set up at the Incheon International Airport.

The Samsung Olympic Showcases will walk people through the company’s brand history and heritage in design, engineering and craftsmanship. Samsung’s VR technology will power immersive experiences that allow visitors to experience thrills like snowboarding.

Visitors will also be able to experience the “Mission to Space VR: A Moon for All Mankind,” an immersive VR experience created by Samsung. They will be taken through a full space mission including a mission briefing and will be completely immersed in the experience with the Moon rig where they will feel lunar gravity with every step.

There’s even going to be a Kids Lounge where kids can learn, play and explore Samsung products. The company will also showcase its smart home devices and visitors will be able to purchase its mobile products and accessories on-site.

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Samsung’s tablet shipments down by 6.4 percent in 2017

Many reports have emerged in the second half of 2017 pointing to a decline in Samsung’s dominance over the mobile and the tablet market. Most of these reports from market research agencies have been consistently pointing towards Samsung’s weakness in the budget market.

Samsung is the only Top 3 vendor to register a decline in shipments

IDC report for Q4 2017 tablet shipments is the latest to join the list. According to the data, Samsung’s tablet shipments dropped from 8 million units in Q4 2016 to 7 million units in Q4 2017, resulting in a decline of 13% year-on-year for the last quarter. Samsung’s market share dropped from 14.9% in Q4 2016 to 14.1% in Q4 2017. Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets registered an impressive growth of 50.3% year-on-year for the quarter. Owing to this performance, Amazon dislodged Samsung to become the second largest tablet vendor in Q4 2017 with a 15.6% market share. Apple held on the top position with 26.6% market share in Q4 2017.

Unlike Samsung whose business model is to sell devices at a profit, Amazon sells tablets at cost price or less as a gateway to Amazon’s services. It also slashed prices for products like the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 during Black Friday. It’s clear that Samsung and Amazon have different business models, but still, Samsung’s budget offerings haven’t been particularly impressive.

Even the IDC report specifically mentions the failure of Samsung’s low-cost A and E series tablets to compete against the value for money offerings by the rivals. The only positive for Samsung in the IDC’s report is that its detachable tablet portfolio continues to do well. These are the Samsung’s 2-in1 hybrid tablets running Windows, such as the Galaxy Book.

While not as bad as Q4 2017, Samsung’s tablet shipments for the entire year also dropped by 6.4% compared to 2016. Samsung sold a total of 24.9 million tablets in 2017, down from 26.6 million units in the previous year. However, Samsung retained the second spot in tablet shipments for the entire year with a market share of 15.2%. Samsung is the only top 3 vendor to register a decline in shipments and market share. Tablet market itself declined by 7.9% in the last quarter and 6.5% for the entire year.

This report comes in the backdrop of other setbacks Samsung faced recently. The company lost the top spot both in the feature phone market and smartphone market in India in Q4 2017, though it was quick to dispute the latter. Samsung’s smartphone market share in China also dropped below 2% last quarter.

Samsung’s own quarterly results confirmed troubles for its mobile division. The company really needs to step up and aggressively compete in the tablet market.

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Samsung decides to invest in new memory chip production line

It was reported yesterday that Samsung was thinking about establishing a new semiconductor chip production line at its Pyeongtaek plant due to rising demand for semiconductors. According to reports, Samsung has now approved a preliminary investment plan to set up the second production line at the Pyeongtaek facility. The plan was endorsed by Samsung Electronics’ Management Committee without opposition. It’s going to be the first major investment in expansion plans after Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong was released from prison.

Samsung reportedly approves investment plan for new facility

It’s not just Samsung that’s pouring money into its semiconductor manufacturing facilities. The chipmaking industry is heavily investing to boost production in order to meet an anticipated rise in demand. Samsung has previously said that it will spend $30 billion to enhance the production capacity at its manufacturing facilities by 2021.

“We are currently reviewing the second phase of investment for our Pyeongtaek semiconductor manufacturing site, which involves the construction of the structural foundation of a facility,” the company confirmed in a statement issued to Reuters.

The statement also adds that this investment is going to better prepare the company for future market demand. Samsung is going to determine any details related to production after taking a good look at market situations.

Samsung constructed the first fabrication line at its Pyeongtaek facility in just over two years and started mass production of its fourth-generation V-NAND memory product in July 2017. Industry analysts predict that if Samsung is able to complete the second semiconductor manufacturing line on schedule, it will be able to mass produce chips on the new line by 2020.

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