Samsung to launch Exynos and ISOCELL Auto chips for vehicles

Samsung already provides chips for automotive customers but it’s now simplifying the branding. They’re part of the existing Exynos and ISOCELL brands. Exynos is Samsung’s mobile semiconductor brand first launched back in 2011. ISOCELL is for image sensors and it was launched in 2017. The chips for vehicles will thus be branded as Exynos Auto and ISOCELL Auto.

It has already used the Exynos Auto branding but is now further dividing the brand. The Exynos processors for cars will be classified as Exynos Auto V, Exynos Auto A, and Exynos Auto T. The alphabets at the end all represent a specific area of focus. V chips will be for infotainment, A for advanced driving aids and T for telematics.

Exynos and ISOCELL Auto chips for vehicles

“With the fast-changing telecommunications sector, accurate sensing and powerful processing capabilities, Samsung’s auto-branded solutions will enable a new driving experience for next-generation smart vehicles,” the company said in a press release.

The ISOCELL brand was introduced for Samsung’s CMOS image sensors last year. The new automotive lineup of sensors will build on Samsung’s pixel isolation technology to provide greater visibility of the road in low-light environments. Image sensors will be crucial in cars of the future as they will provide critical data to the advanced driving solutions.

Samsung is going to showcase its Exynos Auto and ISOCELL Auto chips at the International Suppliers Fair (IZB) in Wolfburg, Germany this week. Some of Samsung’s other affiliates also provide components to automotive customers. The components include OLED displays and batteries for electric vehicles.

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Galaxy Note 9 sales cross 1 million units in South Korea

Samsung has revealed today that the Galaxy Note 9 sales have crossed 1 million units in South Korea. The company has a lot riding on this product. It didn’t get as good of a response with the Galaxy S9/S9+ as it may have hoped. It acknowledged as much earlier this year when the mobile division’s earnings reflected sluggish high-end sales.

The Galaxy Note 9 was supposed to improve the figures for the mobile division. That will only become obvious once the company releases its full earnings report for the quarter. It has mentioned today, though, that over 1 million units of this device have been sold in South Korea.

Galaxy Note 9 sales in South Korea

The Galaxy Note 9 arrived a couple of weeks earlier than its predecessor. So while it has hit 1 million units sold in 54 days after launch, the Galaxy Note 8 did that in 48 days. To be fair the situation was a bit different for the Galaxy Note 8. It represented a comeback for Samsung’s Galaxy Note lineup and was also the first new device of its kind in almost two years.

Samsung has obviously sold many more units of the Galaxy Note 9 across the globe. The device has been generally well received. It hasn’t provided the entire sales figures so it’s difficult to ascertain just how many units it has been able to sell.

The company has also introduced new color options in select markets to reignite consumer interest in its flagship. We can expect it to offer promotions going forward in order to move more units. The Galaxy Note 9 is undoubtedly one of the best Android smartphones on the market right now so Samsung will continue to sell many more units in the months to come.

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Looks like the Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta program may be launched soon

Samsung hasn’t officially said anything about the Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta program. Some evidence has now surfaced to suggest that it may soon break its silence about that. The EULA and FAQ pages for Samsung’s firmware beta program have been updated in the United States with references to Android Pie. This suggests that the company could soon launch the much-awaited beta program.

The pages have only been updated in the United States so far. Similar pages for other beta markets like South Korea and the UK still mention Oreo. They will likely be updated in due course.

Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta program

Samsung has conducted a beta program for major Android releases over the past couple of years. The program for Oreo was launched in November. It appears that the one for Pie may be launched around the same time.

The aforementioned pages spotted by XDA don’t say when the Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta program might begin. They do mention that interested users in the US can sign up through the Samsung Plus app available from Galaxy Apps and the Play Store. Once it goes live they will be able to sign up for the beta program through a banner in the app.

The spots will obviously be limited like they always are. The Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta program will be limited to the US unlocked variant of the flagships in addition to T-Mobile and Sprint models. These pages should be updated soon in other beta markets as well that we know from last year. A confirmed release date will only be confirmed by Samsung. The company is still tightlipped about that, though.

Android 9 Pie brings several new features to the handsets aside from Samsung Experience 10. The leaked Galaxy S9 Android Pie builds have already revealed many of the UI changes. The leaked builds are even available for download for the Snapdragon 845 variants of the Galaxy S9/S9+. Samsung is yet to even confirm when it plans on releasing Android Pie for its devices. It may not happen until early next year for this year’s flagship smartphones.

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I hope Samsung’s smartphone design doesn’t stop being unique in the near future

This year, Samsung has launched multiple smartphones with a different placement for the rear cameras. The Galaxy A8 Star came first, followed by the Galaxy A7 and the Galaxy A9. And I’ve been wondering whether Samsung will continue with the off-center camera position on upcoming phones. I believe Samsung’s phones look rather unique from the back. Okay, not that unique, but it’s easy to tell a Samsung phone apart from the rest by looking at the back.

But with the cameras placed on the edge of the device, Samsung’s new phones look similar to phones from two of its biggest competitors: Huawei and Apple. And if I’m being honest, I really hope Samsung doesn’t make it a standard going forward, even it means sacrificing things like battery capacity. The center rear camera placement is one of the ways you can recognize a Samsung phone, and that will be gone should the company move away from that placement. The only true differentiation then would be the no-notch Infinity displays and the Samsung logo at the back.

Samsung following trends rather than setting them is a troubling sign

And that’s not all. We heard a rumor last week that Samsung might be ditching the 3.5 mm headphone jack next year. I would understand if Samsung did that on the pretext of moving towards the future, but even modern Bluetooth headsets still come with a 3.5 mm connector as an alternative and not a USB Type-C connector. The market clearly isn’t ready for moving towards the Type-C or wireless audio future even two years after the iPhone went 3.5 mm-free. While that future may arrive by the time Samsung removes the 3.5 mm jack from its phones, it would mean that another differentiating factor of Samsung’s phones would disappear.

So my request to Samsung is: Please stay unique and only change when it’s totally needed. Stay with the center camera position, stay with the 3.5 mm jack, and keep offering expandable storage on all of your smartphones as long as you can. You used to set the standard before, and that’s what you need to keep doing in the future as well.

What do you guys think?

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Samsung SM-W2019 could have 3,000 mAh battery powering 4.2-inch displays

Samsung’s new flagship flip phone, the SM-W2019, is getting closer to an official unveil with each passing day. Samsung already has a support page for the device up on its website, and the phone has received some important certifications in recent days. One of those certifications was from China’s TENAA, which gave us live images of the device, and it seems the TENAA listing also temporarily revealed the W2019’s screen size and battery capacity.

Samsung SM-W2019 specs include considerably bigger battery than the W2018

And like the Galaxy Note 9, it seems the SM-W2019 could have a battery that’s significantly larger than its predecessor. While the Samsung W2018 had a 2,300 mAh battery, the SM-W2019 has a 3,000 mAh battery under the hood. A considerable jump, one that suggests Samsung could be making big batteries a standard features for its flagship devices in the future. That would bode well for the Galaxy S10, although it’s just speculation at this point.

The screen size on the W2019 looks set to be the same as the last few phones in the series at 4.2-inches. That means the increase in battery endurance could be huge, making the SM-W2019 worthier of the crazy price tags Samsung usually attaches to them compared to previous devices. Other SM-W2019 specs are expected to include the Snapdragon 845 SoC, dual rear cameras, and Android 8.1 Oreo. The TENAA listing seems to have been taken down at this point, but we can expect it to come back online as we move closer to the SM-W2019’s official launch.

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Samsung and SK Telecom show 5G readiness ahead of December launch

Samsung is working with carrier partners in South Korea and the US to bring about the 5G revolution. The company has already conducted multiple tests with its partners to showcase the technology. It has today announced that the first data transfer has been conducted on commercial 5G network equipment in test bed conditions. It’s SK Telecom’s network that’s powered by 5G equipment supplied by Samsung.

SK Telecom and Samsung are picking up the pace for the deployment of 5G equipment as the carrier aims to launch mobile dongles for its commercial 5G network as early as Decemeber this year.

December launch will be a global first

The test is what’s referred in the industry as a first call. It’s not a phone call, mind you. It’s the final procedure of testing data transfer in conditions that are equivalent to a real 5G environment.

Success is determined by connections among the base station, exchanger and mobile devices. The synchronization of equipment parts for communication is crucial as well. This test was carried out by using the 100-megahertz bandwidth in the 3.5-gigahertz frequency spectrum, which is fully compliant with the 5G standards set by 3GPP.

This test is significant as it used 5G equipment that is ready to be deployed. It’s the equipment that SK Telecom will be using to power jts commercial 5G network. The test has shown that it’s ready for the real world.

“SKT will spend the next few months on maximizing the quality of upcoming services,” said the company’s CTO Park Jin-hyo. Samsung has said that the commercial 5G service launch this December will mark a global first. The company is also gearing up to launch 5G compatible smartphones from next year.

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Galaxy S9 update brings front camera improvement, October 2018 security patch

Samsung has pushed out an update with camera improvements for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ today. The company released a similar update for the Galaxy Note 9 late last month, but for the Galaxy S9, the improvements come for the front camera. Well, there’s just one improvement, but that’s still a better figure than zero, right?

Galaxy S9 software update out with camera and security improvements

The changelog notes that the brightness of faces in environments with backlighting has been improved. Just how much of a difference the update will make is something regular selfie takers will be better able to confirm. The update also brings the October 2018 security patch, which was also released for the Galaxy S8 recently. The changelog also mentions that “general stability of features” has been improved. That’s different wording from Samsung’s usual way of saying that features have been improved in every update, but that’s about it for the details we get.

The new Galaxy S9 update is rolling out in Germany at the moment, with firmware version G960FXXU2BRJ3 and G965FXXU2BRJ3 for the S9 and S9+ respectively. It’s a 244 MB download over the air, and you should be able to grab it from the Settings » Software update menu on your phone. The full firmware is available from our database as usual for those who don’t want to wait for the OTA.

Galaxy S9

• Model: SM-G960F
• Dimensions: 147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5mm
• Display: 5.8” (146.5mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS OIS (F1.5/F2.4)

More specifications

Galaxy S9+

• Model: SM-G965F
• Dimensions: 157.7 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm
• Display: 6.2” (158.1mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS Dual OIS (F1.5/F2.4) & Telephoto: 12MP AF F2.4)

More specifications

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Samsung targets 20% 5G equipment market share by 2022

Samsung isn’t a major player in the telecom equipment market right now. Its market share is only 3 percent compared to Huawei’s 28 percent and Nokia’s 23 percent. Ericsson sits in between the two with 27 percent.

Samsung has been focusing on the next-generation telecommunications technology for the past few years to establish its footprint going forward. Its work on 5G speaks for itself. Samsung says that it’s aiming to achieve a 20 percent market share in the 5G equipment market by 2022.

Samsung is all in on 5G

The company is in a good position to achieve its aim. It has demonstrated its 5G equipment multiple times. Samsung has also teamed up with carriers in key markets to run tests on commercial 5G networks.

It’s particularly focused on South Korea and the United States. Carriers in both countries are due to switch on their commercial 5G networks by next year. Samsung has partnerships for 5G with key players in both countries. Samsung’s network business president Kim Young-ki has said that the company will account for 20 percent of the 5G equipment market by 2022.

Samsung has orders for 5G equipment in the bag already and is working to win more. Major U.S. carriers like Verizon and AT&T will be sourcing 5G equipment from Samsung for their commercial networks. This would provide the company with a good launchpad to expand its client base further when the 5G wave reaches other markets, particularly emerging markets.

The company’s mobile division will also be putting handsets on the market capable of supporting these 5G networks. The Galaxy S10 will likely be its first 5G compatible device. It’s expected to arrive early next year.

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Rumor: Samsung Galaxy Note 10 screen size could be 6.66 inches

Samsung is going bigger with the Galaxy S10 next year, according to the rumors and reports that have flooded the internet in recent months. The top Galaxy S10 model is expected to have a 6.44-inch display, slightly larger than the Galaxy Note 9. And according to Chinese leakster Ice universe, the Galaxy Note 10 might end up being bigger as well, with a screen size of 6.66 inches.

Galaxy Note 10 screen size rumored to be upwards of 6.6 inches

At this point, even if these rumors are based on information coming from sources in the know, everything should be considered as speculation, especially since things can change drastically in the coming months. That said, the Galaxy Note lineup getting such a notable jump in screen size next year would be quite logical. If the Galaxy S10 has three rear cameras, the Note 10 certainly will. And when you consider things like the S Pen slot and a big battery, you would certainly need a bigger device to fit everything without having to sacrifice existing features.

Not to mention that with the Galaxy S10 display expected to have a slightly longer aspect ratio (19:9 instead of 18.5:9), the Note 10 may not have to be all that big to accommodate a 6.66-inch screen, something Ice universe himself points out in another tweet. Hopefully the headphone jack won’t be getting the axe just so Samsung can make the Note 10 compact enough. A recent report suggested the possibility of Samsung removing the 3.5 mm headphone jack with the Note 10 or Galaxy S11, so there’s certainly cause for worry.

But with even the Galaxy S10 also a few months away, it’s too early to sound the warning bells for the Galaxy Note 10. The same goes for believing any of these standard rumors about screen size and such.

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Support page for Samsung’s new flip phone is now up

It’s known that Samsung is working on a new flip phone. The company launches one annually for customers in China and South Korea. The upcoming device bears model number SM-W2019 and is due to be unveiled in the near future. A good indication of that is the official support page for the device which is now up.

We often see support pages for Samsung’s unannounced devices go online a few weeks before the official unveiling. That may very well be the case with the SM-W2019 as well. We can expect it to be announced soon.

Samsung’s new flip phone

It’s going to be a flagship level device. The SM-W2019 reportedly features a Snapdragon 845 processor. It’s also said to have a dual rear camera with variable aperture. Camera features like the Scene Optimizer and Flaw Detection may be present as well.

Some images of the SM-W2019 surfaced recently as the device received a crucial certification in China. It won’t be that different from its predecessor, the SM-W2018. You can see the two displays, a conventional keyboard and navigation buttons. There’s also a dedicated Bixby key.

The device has also received its Wi-Fi certification recently. It revealed that the device will ship with Android 8.1 Oreo. Samsung will release the Android 9 Pie update for the device later.

Last year’s flagship flip phone was launched in December. There’s no reason to believe that Samsung will launch its successor earlier than expected. No word as yet on the pricing of this device. Like its predecessors, the SM-W2019 may not be available outside the aforementioned markets.

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