Samsung releases Galaxy S8 Oreo kernel sources

Samsung finally released the much-awaited Galaxy S8 Oreo update yesterday. The rollout started with beta testers receiving the update for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ in Germany and it goes without saying that the firmware will soon go live in other markets as well. Samsung had said that beta testers would receive it a day before everyone else so, hopefully, the company will start the broader rollout today.

Keeping up with its tradition of releasing kernel sources for its flagship handsets in a timely fashion, Samsung has now released the Galaxy S8 Oreo kernel sources for the Exynos-powered models of last year’s flagship duo.

Galaxy S8 Oreo kernel sources

Normal users need not concern themselves with the Galaxy S8 Oreo kernel sources because they’re not meant for them. They’re meant for developers who want to create custom software for the handsets.

Samsung has now released the kernel sources for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ bearing model number SM-G950F and SM-G955F respectively. It’s the same firmware version G950/G955-FXXU1CRAP that the company started rolling out yesterday in Germany. Developers can now use these kernel sources to create custom recoveries, kernels and ROMs.

It’s unclear when the Galaxy S8 Oreo kernel sources for the Snapdragon-powered models of these devices will be offered. Developers with the Exynos variants can head over to the Open Source Release Center (OSRC) and get the kernel sources for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ by hitting the source links below.

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Galaxy S8 Oreo vs Nougat side-by-side screenshots

The official Oreo update is finally rolling out to the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, two weeks after the beta program came to its long-drawn-out conclusion. The update’s only available to beta testers in Germany at the moment, and while everyone else is waiting for the update to hit their S8 or S8+, we thought we’d put together a few screenshots to show how things differ on Oreo compared to Android 7.0 Nougat.

Changes and improvements are littered throughout Samsung Experience 9.0, the latest version of Samsung’s software, and there are also quite a few new features. We’ve already covered a majority of those features in our What’s New With Android 8.0 Oreo articles, so these screenshots are simply to show how some apps and menus have changed on Oreo. Needless to say, we’ll keep adding more of these as we discover other new stuff.

Well, without further ado, check out the screenshots below. The Oreo screenshot is on the left in each image, while the Nougat screenshot is on the right. If you still haven’t received the Oreo update, don’t forget to take the necessary steps to prepare your S8 or S8+ so that it’s a smooth transition. Already running the official Oreo build on your phone? Let us know how your experience has been by leaving a comment!

Galaxy S8 Oreo vs Nougat side-by-side screenshots

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Here are a few interesting patents by Samsung which might be used for for the Galaxy X

For years, there have been rumors about Samsung working on phones with foldable screens. Even Samsung demoed flexible screen porotypes at various events over the years. Unfortunately, foldable screen phones haven’t turned into reality so far, although Samsung made a few curved screen phones to satisfy us.

This year, however, there is a real possibility of a phone with a foldable screen making its way into the market as even Samsung officially announced that foldable displays will enter mass production later this year. When it launches, this phone, often rumored as the Galaxy X, should mark a new chapter in the smartphone technology.

Sneak peek into the ideas explored by Samsung

While many of us eagerly wait for the rumored Galaxy X, Samsung has been filing many patents pertaining to the full screen and foldable screen phones. Though filing of a patent application doesn’t guarantee the launch of a product, patents do give us a sneak peek into the ideas explored by Samsung.

Below we have listed few interesting patents filed by Samsung in the recent past. While the first three of them explore UX/UI ideas on implementing multi-window features on a foldable screen, the last two of them explore UX ideas on full-screen phones.

Foldable screens offers more screen real estate making them ideal for multi-windows features.

Multi-window UI example for a video call

Multi-windows UI for camera

Foldable screens result in displays with new aspect ratios. This creates both opportunities and problems in content cosnumption as most of it designed for current form factors and aspect ratios.

A foldable phone patent. One of the many designs Samsung has patented.

The below patents show couple of UX/UI ideas by Samsung for full-screen phones.

Apart from the few select patents mentioned here, Samsung has filed numerous other patents for full-screen and foldable screen phones. You can check our coverage of other patents here and the rumored Galaxy X here.

Again, it is worth reiterating that filing of a patent doesn’t guarantee the existence of a product or an idea. Companies, including Samsung, files hundreds of patent applications every year with many of them never turning into a real product.

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Samsung trademarks J3 Star and J7 Star for future budget smartphones

Galaxy J series is an extremely confusing smartphone line-up from Samsung’s stable. Samsung launches dozens of Galaxy J series models with minor variation in specifications depending on the region, carrier, and the retailer selling them. Samsung also again rebrands some of these J series models into On series phones for online-only sales.

New budget smartphones in the pipeline?

Galaxy J series phones currently use Pro, Max, Nxt, Prime, and Ace as suffixes for model names. They are already too many of them to confuse customers, but Samsung apparently wants to add more. Samsung has filed trademark applications for the “J3 Star” and “J7 Star” monikers with the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) on February 2, 2018.

It is not clear how these ‘Star’ models will be different from other J series variants in the Samsung’s smartphone line-up. Other than the names, no additional information about the devices is available currently. In fact, there is no guarantee these devices will even make it to the market as Samsung, like many other companies, often trademarks many names even though most of them may never turn into real products.

If Samsung does launch the J3 Star and J7 Star smartphones, they should be budget devices in accordance with the J series branding.

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Seemingly official Galaxy S9 cases reveal new Hyperknit and Kickstand styles

As the world awaits the imminent launch of the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ flagships, we continue to see more leaks regarding these devices. Seemingly official Samsung cases for the new handsets have surfaced once again. This time they’ve shown up on a Romanian retailer’s website with a shipment date of tomorrow, at least before the listings were taken down. The listings reveal two brand new styles that Samsung has never offered before.

New Galaxy S9 cases leak

One of the new cases comes in the Hyperknit finish. It’s a woven fabric with a texture that’s really only been seen on sports clothing before. The second new style contains a vertically ridged design with a twist; a kickstand. It can be used to place the device on plain surfaces in landscape mode. As I previously mentioned, both of these designs have never been used and definitely look like they’ll provide extra protection than most of the other Galaxy S9 cases like these or these.

The other case that surfaced is a silicone case that we’ve seen in the past on devices like the Galaxy S8. Let us know what you think of these and which one you will be purchasing to protect your shiny new Galaxy S9.

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Galaxy S9 Snapdragon vs Exynos performance difference might still be there

It has long been known that the Exynos-powered variants of Samsung’s flagship smartphones tend to offer slightly better performance compared to their Qualcomm counterparts because Samsung optimizes its own SoC more for the new devices. Word on the street is that it’s going to be business as usual with the upcoming flagship as the Galaxy S9 Snapdragon vs Exynos performance difference might still be there.

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will primarily be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 9810 processor but in some markets like North America, the variants will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 instead. Both SoCs are quite identical as you can see in our Exynos 9810 vs Snapdragon 845 specs comparison.

Galaxy S9 Snapdragon vs Exynos performance difference

However, China-based leakster Ice Universe claims that the Snapdragon 845-powered Galaxy S9 gives “mediocre results” on Geekbench and that we can expect the Exynos variant to be better, but no figures are offered for the latter. The Geekbench screenshot this usually accurate source has shared doesn’t mention the handset’s model number, though.

Don’t be put off by “mediocre,” though, as the Snapdragon 845’s supposed single-core and multi-score score of 2378 and 8132 respectively is still higher than the 1954 and 6429 scores of the Exynos 8895-powered Galaxy S8 as well as the 1771 and 5676 single-core and multi-core scores of the Snapdragon 835-powered Galaxy S8.

Since the source hasn’t shared any scores of the Galaxy S9 with Exynos 9810 it’s difficult to draw a parallel at this point in time. We know that Samsung has a habit of optimizing the Exynos variants of its Galaxy S flagships better than the Snapdragon variants so it’s not like this will come as a surprise to anyone.

We’d recommend just holding off judgment on the actual Galaxy S9 Snapdragon vs Exynos performance difference until there’s more information to go on. The only thing that really matters is how big that difference feels in the real world as the numbers only tell a small part of the whole story and that we’ll only know once the Galaxy S9 is out. Samsung will announce the Galaxy S9 officially on February 25 in Barcelona.

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Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee suspected of evading $7.5 million in taxes

Earlier this week, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was released from jail after the Seoul High Court reduced and suspended his sentence by a lower court. He was arrested on charges of bribery and corruption and was sentenced to five years in prison by a Seoul court last year. Even before the news of Lee Jae-yong’s release settled down, his father and Samsung Electronics Chairman, Lee Kun-hee, was named as a suspect in an 8.2 billion won ($7.5 million) tax evasion case by the South Korean police.

Case involves using employee bank accounts to evade taxes

The investigation dates back to the late payment of taxes in 2011 and involves the use of bank accounts held by some Samsung employees to evade taxes. During their probe, the police have unearthed accounts holding around 400 billion won ($367 million).

After suffering a heart attack in 2014, 76-year-old Lee Kun-hee has remained hospitalized at Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul. The police have not been able to question the ailing chairman due to this health condition.

“Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee and a Samsung executive managed funds in 260 bank accounts under names of 72 executives, suspected of evading taxes worth 8.2 billion won,” the Korean National Police Agency said in a statement.

The corruption scandal that ensnared Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong also brought down South Korea’s former President Park Geun-hye last year. The new government led by the President Moon Jae-in elected after the corruption scandal promised stronger scrutiny and actions against white-collar crimes by corporate magnates.

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PSA: No Project Treble on Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 and S8+

One of the most frequently asked questions about Oreo is whether an existing smartphone will get support for Project Treble. While every device that launches with Oreo out of the box is expected to support Project Treble, Google has said that it is also working with some OEMs to bring Project Treble to existing devices. Naturally, Galaxy S8 and S8+ owners have been wondering if Samsung is one of those OEMs, but as it stands right now, that is not the case.

No Project Treble on Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 and S8+

The Oreo update that’s rolling out in Germany doesn’t have Project Treble enabled, something we have confirmed using an official method that allows one to check for Treble support. Now, it’s possible Samsung will implement Project Treble at a later stage, but if history is any indication, the company is likely to keep it limited to new devices, like the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+.

There’s also no guarantee that major software updates will come out faster on the S9 or future Samsung phones. Project Treble separates the Android framework from the low-level code that lets manufacturers make the OS work with their proprietary hardware, but since Samsung heavily modifies the Android framework, it remains to be seen what kind of a difference Project Treble will make.

For more details on Project Treble, check out the official Android website.

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