Leaked Galaxy A6s images possibly show Samsung’s first ODM device

Samsung has revamped its Galaxy A series in recent weeks. The Galaxy A7 is its first smartphone with three rear cameras. The Galaxy A9 is the world’s first smartphone with four rear cameras. Samsung seems to have another new handset for this series up its sleeve. The Galaxy A6s might arrive soon and that too only in China initially. It’s said to be Samsung’s first ODM device.

What ODM means is that Samsung will not be producing this device at its own factories. A third-party would manufacture it for the company. A recent report suggested that Samsung will outsource manufacturing to Wintech. That’s the company which makes smartphones for the likes of Xiaomi.

Leaked Galaxy A6s images

Samsung is reportedly going to outsource production of mid-range and low-end smartphones in China to Wintech. The devices will have its logo at the back. This shift may help Samsung cut manufacturing costs as it restructures its mobile business in China.

The company’s market share has been eviscerated in the country and it has promised to do more to address that. The reports about Samsung launching an ODM smartphone come amid speculation that it’s shutting down one of its two manufacturing plants in China. It may be forced to make that decision due to sluggish sales and rising labor costs.

These leaked Galaxy A6s images have surfaced on Weibo. It’s claimed that this is Samsung’s first ODM smartphone. It essentially looks like a baby Galaxy A9 at first glance. There’s a vertically positioned dual rear camera and gradient colors. Despite there being no home button it does have bezels you’d find hard to ignore.

You can see ‘Galaxy Phoenix’ on the startup screen in one of the images. That could either be the local moniker for this device or a codename of some sort. It may also be why we heard rumors about an ODM Galaxy P series.

It’s unclear if Samsung will be launching the Galaxy A6s in markets outside China. Even if the company moves to ODM for budget devices, it will not being doing that for its flagships and even premium mid-range phones.

The post Leaked Galaxy A6s images possibly show Samsung’s first ODM device appeared first on SamMobile.

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Verizon Galaxy J3 Eclipse Android 8.0 Oreo update rolling out

North America’s largest carrier is updating two of its low-end Samsung phones to Android 8.0 Oreo. These devices are the Galaxy J3 Eclipse and the Galaxy J3 Mission, both of which are receiving the September 2018 security patch along with Oreo. The Galaxy J3 Eclipse Oreo update comes with build number J327VVRU2BRHA. The J3 Mission is being bumped up to J327VPPVRU2BRHA.

Galaxy J3 Eclipse and J3 Mission make the jump to Oreo

The update brings many of the stock Android Oreo features, such as picture-in-picture multitasking, autofill support across the OS, notification dots, and limits on background activity by unused apps for faster performance and better battery life. You also get high-contrast options in the Samsung keyboard app, Dual Messenger, and an updated Phone app, along with many minor changes as detailed in our What’s New With Android 8.0 Oreo articles. Verizon has also made some changes of its own, such as removing some preinstalled apps and reducing Samsung apps like Samsung Health to a stub so you can download the full versions only if needed.

To grab the Oreo update on your Galaxy J3 Eclipse or Galaxy J3 Mission, check the Software update section in the phone’s Settings app. If you aren’t in a rush, you can wait to be notified about the update by your phone. Having a Wi-Fi connection will accelerate that process and will also allow you to save on data costs.

Have you received the Oreo update on your Galaxy J3 Eclipse or Galaxy J3 Mission?

The post Verizon Galaxy J3 Eclipse Android 8.0 Oreo update rolling out appeared first on SamMobile.

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[Poll] How much do you care about the headphone jack?

Samsung’s the only mainstream Android smartphone manufacturer that still hasn’t gotten rid of the headphone jack from its phones. That’s a good thing, naturally, especially since Samsung can still make excellent devices like the Galaxy Note 9. The Note 9 is packed to the brim with the latest tech and a large battery and still has a headphone jack. But that doesn’t mean the headphone jack will remain on the Galaxy lineup forever, and a recent report suggests the day we all fear may arrive next year.

No headphone jack = No problem? Or bye-bye Samsung?

Before you get worried, no, it’s not the Galaxy S10 we’re talking about. The report mentions that the Galaxy Note 10 may be the first Samsung flagship without a headphone jack, although it’s also possible Samsung will wait until the Galaxy S11 before making the big move. While nothing is written in stone just yet, we have been wondering: How much do you care about the headphone jack and would you be okay if Samsung removes it from its flagships a year from now?

It will never be nice to not have a traditional headphone jack and have to make do with USB Type-C audio and live the dongle life. But with Samsung flagships becoming more and more advanced with each passing year, there might come a time when Samsung has no option but to scratch the headphone jack off the list of features. The Note 10 would also be a likely candidate – Samsung can’t remove the S Pen from the Note lineup, so why not remove the headphone jack? You know, especially if the Note 10 also has a big battery and, therefore, demands fewer instances where you have to both charge the phone and listen to music at the same time?

Not to mention wireless audio is also becoming more and more affordable these days, even if it can’t match the quality of wired audio. Again, one can never say if and when Samsung will remove one of the primary reasons why its phones stand out from the competition these days. But if it does, what would be your response? Tell us by voting in the poll below, then expand on your thoughts down in the comments section!

How much do you care about the headphone jack?

• A lot, it makes Samsung phones unique, like the microSD slot
• Wireless audio/USB Type-C audio is the future
• It's good to have, but not a primary requirement for me

Results

• A lot, it makes Samsung phones unique, like the microSD slot 0%, 0 votes
  0 votes

  0 votes - 0% of all votes
• Wireless audio/USB Type-C audio is the future 0%, 0 votes
  0 votes

  0 votes - 0% of all votes
• It's good to have, but not a primary requirement for me 0%, 0 votes
  0 votes

  0 votes - 0% of all votes

Total Votes: 0

12 October 2018

×

You or your IP had already vote.

• A lot, it makes Samsung phones unique, like the microSD slot
• Wireless audio/USB Type-C audio is the future
• It's good to have, but not a primary requirement for me

×

You or your IP had already vote.

Results

The post [Poll] How much do you care about the headphone jack? appeared first on SamMobile.

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Samsung Flow now supports clipboard sharing between connected devices

Samsung has quietly pushed out an update to the Samsung Flow apps on Windows 10 and Android with some noteworthy features. The update, which bumps the version number to 3.5.04 on Android and 3.5.10 on Windows 10, brings three new features according to the changelog: clipboard sharing between connected devices, drag and drop files in Smart View mode, and a new authentication method through biometrics on tablets.

Undoubtedly, clipboard sharing is the most appealing part of this new update. Once the Samsung Flow app is updated to the latest version on both your phone and PC/tablet, a new clipboard icon appears on the top-right corner of the app’s home screen. Upon clicking the icon, a two-way clipboard sync (text only) is enabled between the connected devices. In our brief testing, the feature worked as advised, coming across as a compelling alternative to third-party solutions.

Drag and drop files in Smart View mode

The other important feature in the latest update is the ability to drag and drop files in Smart View mode. When mirroring your phone screen through the Samsung Flow app on Windows 10, you can now simply drag and drop files from your PC onto your phone screen to initiate a transfer.

Last but not least, Samsung has also added the option to use biometrics on supported Galaxy tablets to sign-in to Samsung Flow. Previously, initiating a Samsung Flow connection from a tablet required authenticating the request on the phone every time either through Simple Unlock or Samsung Pass. However, Samsung is changing that in the latest update with an option to validate connection requests on the tablet itself.

To enable this option, go to Manage Devices in the Samsung Flow settings menu on your Galaxy smartphone, click on the gear icon next to the registered tablet and toggle the ‘Tablet Biometrics’ option under Authentication Methods. Once that is done, you can initiate and authenticate Samsung Flow from the tablet itself using the biometric options, provided the app is already running on the phone.

Samsung may be rolling out the app update in stages. If you haven’t received the update yet, you can download the APK from our APK archive.

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Samsung’s next flagship flip phone leaks in images, gets Bluetooth-certified

Samsung is making another flip phone this year, because why not? The flip phone factor has all but gone extinct, but Samsung has been finding enough takers in China and South Korea in recent years to be making high-end flip phones every 12 months. In fact, the last such phone from the Korean giant was its first to have a dual-aperture camera that later arrived on the Galaxy S9. And the next phone in the series, the SM-W2019, has just been leaked in the flesh by TENAA, China’s primary certification agency. It has also received Bluetooth certification under the codename ‘Lykan’, following a Wi-Fi certification earlier this week.

Samsung SM-W2019 nears an official launch

The design of the SM-W2019 shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s got two displays, a traditional keypad and navigation buttons, and even a dedicated Bixby key. The SM-W2019 specs are expected to include the Snapdragon 845 and, as the pictures show, a dual rear camera. In addition to a dual aperture lens, it should have features such as AR Emoji and the Scene Optimizer and Flaw Detection features that debuted on the Galaxy Note 9. The screens will probably be AMOLED panels of Full HD resolution. As the Wi-Fi certification had revealed, it will run Android 8.1 Oreo, and a Android 9.0 Pie update should arrive in a few months.

The Samsung W2018 was launched in December last year, so we can expect a similar launch time frame for the Samsung SM-W2019. It may arrive earlier as well considering it has received many of the necessary certifications, but nothing is confirmed for now. Of course, you can rest assured it won’t be available in most markets around the world. That’s just how it is for exotic items such as Samsung’s clamshell flagship phones.

The post Samsung’s next flagship flip phone leaks in images, gets Bluetooth-certified appeared first on SamMobile.

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What we learned about the Galaxy A9 (2018) design from its creator

We were invited to a briefing session today with Sang IL Park, Samsung’s principal product designer for the new Galaxy A9. Samsung launched this device yesterday at an event in Kuala Lumpur. It’s the company’s and the world’s first smartphone with four rear cameras. We have already detailed the specifics of the camera in our Galaxy A9 hands-on. This briefing was primarily related with the design of this device.

It’s evidently not all that different from the Galaxy A7. Park mentioned that both devices have been designed with the same target market in mind: millennials. The Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A9 are aimed at users who are active on social media, hence the triple and quad-camera systems respectively.

The design team worked with the aim of making the quad camera system look as naturally integrated into the body as possible. They focused on minimizing protrusion to achieve a more natural look. That’s the main reason why all four rear cameras are in a straight vertical line.

Samsung gets serious about gradient colors

One noticeable change is the adoption of gradient colors. Samsung has design offices across the globe and they conduct research into upcoming trends. The design was based on the trend analysis conducted by these offices. Their prediction for 2018 was that the gradient colors will become a major trend. Not only for smartphones but for other industries such as interior design. Samsung is a bit late to the party, though, as some of its rivals have long adopted gradient colors.

Samsung has increasingly been adopting the use of glass backs on its affordable devices. Park says that the company has moved in this direction as glass gives a more sophisticated look and it also maximizes the level of glow that Samsung is looking to get out of these colors. Glass tends to break but Park confirmed that the Galaxy A9 has Gorilla Glass at the back. He couldn’t recall the exact version, though.

We mentioned in our Galaxy A9 hands on that the dedicated Bixby key on this device is placed a bit higher presumably to prevent accidental presses. That’s an issue that many users have complained about on other devices. We asked Park if this was a conscious decision on the design’s team part. The rather diplomatic answer was that the positioning is based on a guide that Samsung has for ergonomic design. Accepting that the button’s placement has been raised to prevent accidental presses would obviously amount to an admission that they didn’t quite get it right the first time around.

All things considered, the Galaxy A9 looks and feels like a premium device, the kind that we have come to expect from Samsung over the years. The real star of the show here is the quad camera system. We’ll have more to say about that in our full Galaxy A9 review, which will be up in the not-too-distant future.

What’s your opinion of the Galaxy A9 (2018) as far as the design is concerned? Sound off in the comments!

The post What we learned about the Galaxy A9 (2018) design from its creator appeared first on SamMobile.

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Recent Galaxy Note 9 camera update re-released with new build number

Samsung recently released a Galaxy Note 9 update that brought many improvements to the phone’s camera. But while some countries are yet to get that update even once, Samsung is pushing out the very same update in some markets (mostly in the Baltic region) with a new build number. The original update had build number N960FXXU2ARI9, which is now being bumped to N960FXXU2ARJ1.

Recent Galaxy Note 9 camera update gets a re-release

The security patch hasn’t been updated, either, so the new update is probably a bug fix. However, this does mean that the October security patch update for the Note 9 in these markets might end up being delayed. As for the camera improvements, the Galaxy Note 9 camera update improves brightness and signal-to-noise ratio in low light conditions, HDR control accuracy (so you get fewer overexposed pictures), and brightness of faces in scenes where there’s a lot of light behind the subject.

To see if the new update is available for you, open the Settings app on your Note 9, tap Software update, then hit the Download updates manually option. That should make the update start downloading if it has gone live in your country. We also have the firmware available in our database, so you can take things into your own hands and upgrade without waiting for the over-the-air release.

Have you received the new Galaxy Note 9 update? Let us know in the comments!

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We’ll be live on YouTube today – Galaxy A9 and more to be discussed!

We cover a lot of interesting news about Samsung products every week so there’s always plenty to discuss with our readers. We have started conducting live streams on YouTube for this purpose so that our readers can join in and engage with us live. We’ll be going live on our official YouTube channel today, Friday, at 12:00 Amsterdam time (3:30 pm Delhi, 11 am London).

Today’s hot topic will be the new Galaxy A9 (2018). In just a couple of weeks, Samsung has gone and released its first smartphone with three rear cameras and now followed it up with the world’s first smartphone with four cameras on the back. The Galaxy A9 will go on sale in November, and what better way to while away the time until then than talking about the phone live on YouTube?

Head over to our YouTube channel and subscribe. We’ll send you a little reminder when we go live.

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