Galaxy S9+ fingerprint sensor placement may be too low for some

The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are finally here, and with them come newly positioned fingerprint sensors. This was one of the most complained about design flaws on the 2017 flagships, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8. My explanation for the reasoning behind the exorbitant amount of complaints stems from the fact that the majority of the world has small hands. Therefore, the sensor placement to the right of the camera was just a bit out of reach for most. Well, Samsung took that to heart and made the highly sought-after change. The fingerprint sensor now resides below the camera on both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, but even that may be an issue for some folks.

Galaxy S9+ fingerprint sensor placement can’t please everyone

Alongside the aggravation behind the Bixby button for most users, the placement of the fingerprint sensor was most definitely quite high on the list of complaints. With Samsung a company that keeps its ear to the streets and makes changes accordingly, we have a differently placed sensor on the new flagships. But, for those with larger hands, like myself, it is now a hassle as the sensor is a tad too low. This is especially an issue on the S9+. The dual rear camera means the fingerprint sensor is placed lower on the body on the S9+ compared to the S9. Yes, the Galaxy S9 is shorter and should technically have the same problem, but since the S9+ is heavier, one tends to grip it higher up, which compounds the issue.

I had no issues at all with the placement of the sensor on the 2017 flagships; my finger rested right on the scanner. Others got used to it after a while. The previous placement appeased larger-handed folks, though, whereas this year it is kind of a middle ground for everyone. All in all, it is a solid move from Samsung considering the fact that the majority of the world has small to medium-sized hands.

Placement aside, the new sensor has seen other improvements as well. If you recall in years past, the registration of one’s fingerprint initially called for repeated vertical swipes. Then, it called for repeated soft touches on the sensor until reaching 100 percent. Well, now, a fingerprint can be registered in three vertical swipes or less. Executing the action slow enough enables the propensity to complete registration in one fell swoop.

Taking the whole device into consideration, we’re quite pleased with them both. The camera is excellent, the display is amazing, and the speakers are a major upgrade, and we will lay out our thoughts in detail in our Galaxy S9 review. For now, if you’ve managed to play around with the S9 or S9+, let us know in the comments whether or not the fingerprint sensor this year is in the right place for you.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S9 hands-on

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Samsung details March 2018 security patch

As Samsung continues to roll out the February 2018 security patch to more devices, the company has now detailed the latest security maintenance release for the month of March 2018. While it has only been about a week or so since the company ramped up the release of last month’s patch, device owners can now start looking forward to receiving the latest patch for March 2018.

March 2018 security patch

Samsung today detailed the March 2018 security patch which brings all of the fixes that are part and parcel of Google’s Android Security Bulletin – March 2018 package.

It brings fixes for nine critical vulnerabilities that were discovered in the Android operating system as well as scores of high-risk and moderate-risk vulnerabilities. No low-risk vulnerabilities were discovered which is why the patch doesn’t bring any fixes for them.

The most severe vulnerability that was patched by Google in this latest release could enable a remote attacker to use a specially crafted file to execute arbitrary code in the context of a privileged process on the device.

Also included in Samsung’s latest security maintenance release are fixes for five Samsung Vulnerabilities and Exposures (SVE) that were discovered in the company’s own software. The security patch that Samsung will start rolling out in the near future which include fixes from both Samsung and Google.

Samsung has developed something of a habit recently to start the rollout of new security maintenance releases by rolling them out first to mid-range devices. That’s what it did last month as well so there’s sufficient reason to believe that the March 2018 security patch will first be released to mid-range devices.

Expect Samsung to start rolling out the March 2018 security patch in the coming days. It’s still in the process of sending out the February 2018 patch. It did so at a leisurely pace last month as it had its hands full with the Galaxy S8 Oreo update so it’s likely that some devices that didn’t receive last month’s patch will skip straight to the March 2018 patch.

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Galaxy S9 in India: Price and release date confirmed

Samsung conducted a launch event today to formally launch the Galaxy S9 in India. It has officially confirmed the price and release date for the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ in one of its key markets. The new flagship brings a variety of enhanced features that Samsung says will reimagine the way users communicate, share and experience the world.

Galaxy S9 in India

The Galaxy S9 in India will have several “Make for India” features, according to Samsung, and the new flagship will also be bundled with offers aside from Samsung’s own Samsung Rewards loyalty program.

The Make for India features include carrier aggregation for 2.5x faster data speeds. Samsung has teamed up with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to enable LTE Carrier Aggregation on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ where spectrum across different bands merge into one single pipe.

This gives users more bandwidth which results in faster streaming and quicker downloads. Samsung says that the Galaxy S9 in India will be one of the fastest smartphones on 4G networks with speeds of up to 250 Mbps.

The company’s mobile payments service Samsung Pay has already been a big success globally and locally in India as well. The company has now introduced its Samsung Rewards loyalty program in the country. Samsung Pay users will earn points when they make payments using the service and can subsequently redeem them for perks such as food and beverage vouchers, movie tickets and shopping. They can also be redeemed for discounts on Samsung products.

The Galaxy S9 in India will be available in Midnight Black, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple colors from retail stores, Samsung Shop and Flipkart. The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be priced at INR 57,900 and INR 64,900 respectively for 64GB models and INR 65,900 and INR 72,900 respectively for 256GB models.

Samsung will release its new flagship in the country on March 16. That’s also when the handset will be released globally. The 256GB model of the Galaxy S9+ will be exclusively available from Reliance Digital stores, Samsung exclusive stores and Samsung Shop.

Samsung is also offering a host of promotions for the Galaxy S9 in India which include mobile data and cashback offers. They’re explained in more detail on the company’s website.

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Samsung buys another AI startup to improve Bixby

In its mission to further improve Bixby, Samsung has acquired artificial intelligence startup Kngine. It has taken a 100 percent stake in the company that has developed an artificial intelligence search engine which can understand and answer questions as well as perform relevant actions.

Samsung acquires Kngine

Kngine started its operations back in Egypt back in 2013. The company details on its website that its artificial intelligence engine crawls the web, enterprise documents, books, FAQs and even customer service logs to create “biologically plausible knowledge representations,” which basically means that the AI strives to function like a human brain.

It first understands the questions and then breaks them down into sub-questions and dependencies before forming a solution plan. It then searches its knowledge graph which combines knowledge from countless documents to find possible answers before surfacing the most plausible answer to the query.

A Samsung official revealed to The Investor that the company’s venture capital unit Samsung Next had actually invested in Kngine jointly with Vodafone Ventures Egypt in 2014. Samsung Research America later acquired a 100 percent stake in the company last year.

This isn’t the first acquisition of its kind. Samsung has been picking up smaller artificial intelligence companies recently some of which include Expect Labs and Vicarious. These acquisitions are in line with its efforts to advance artificial intelligence solutions.

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