Samsung One UI (Android Pie) brings option to lock home screen icons

There probably aren’t too many folks out there who haven’t accidently moved the home screen icons on their Galaxy smartphone. Galaxy phones do block touch screen access when they’re in a dark place like a pocket or a bag, but that’s not a complete solution. But Samsung is bringing one on Android Pie. The home screen settings now have an option to lock the home screen icons and shortcuts.

No more accidental moving of home screen icons

It’s a simple functionality that you will find in almost every third-party home screen launcher. Once enabled, you cannot add or remove any new shortcuts or widgets on the home screen. The option – called Lock Home screen layout – can be found in the Display » Home screen section of the Galaxy S9’s Settings app. While beta users should be able to access it right away, it’s possible the feature will come as a server-side update once the stable version of Android Pie is released for the public. That’s how the option to use the home screen landscape orientation was rolled out as well on Android 8.0 Oreo.

You can check out our One UI feature focus series of articles for more on what is new in Android Pie. To see if your device is eligible for the Android 9 update, check out Samsung’s roadmap.

The post Samsung One UI (Android Pie) brings option to lock home screen icons appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2FtUmUO
via IFTTT

Samsung developing a 6.7-inch Galaxy S10 variant with six cameras

Samsung have big hopes on the Galaxy S10 to turnaround the company’s smartphone business, which has seen a downward trend lately. The company is planning to launch at least three models of the Galaxy S10. There will be an entry-level Galaxy S10 with model number SM-G970x and the two premium options with model numbers SM-G973x and SM-G975x. These three models have already received their certification from the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (CMIIT).

Now a new report suggests that Samsung is planning to launch a fourth Galaxy S10 model next year. The fourth model will include 5G support and will sport a total of six cameras – two at the front and four at the back.

A fourth Galaxy S10 with a 6.7-inch display

The previously reported three Galaxy S10 variants are said to feature two different display sizes. The SM-G970x and SM-G973x will feature 5.8-inch displays, while the SM-G975x will come with a 6.4-inch display. The fourth variant, however, will reportedly feature an even bigger 6.7-inch display. This particular model will be the star of the S10 lineup, marking the 10th anniversary of Samsung’s S series. Naturally, it will be the most expensive S10, but will also be technologically superior to the other three. It would be Samsung’s first smartphone with a quad rear and dual front camera setup.

Samsung is reportedly mulling a reverse wireless charging feature for this Galaxy S10 model. It would enable the device to use its battery to wirelessly charge other devices. This feature is already present on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.

The company recently unveiled the Exynos 9820 which will power the Galaxy S10. The next-generation flagship processor supports on-device artificial intelligence processing. Samsung is also reportedly planning to drop the iris scanner from the S10, in favor of an ultrasonic in-display sensor, at least on the two premium models. Samsung is basically going with different hardware specifications for different S10 models.

The fourth Galaxy S10 is internally known as “Beyond X” and is expected to hit the markets next spring. All four will reportedly be launched at an event in mid-February but only the trio will be released first. The 6.7-inch, 5G behemoth will arrive when carriers flip the switch on their 5G networks by the end of Q1 or early Q2, 2019.

The post Samsung developing a 6.7-inch Galaxy S10 variant with six cameras appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2Q3XaMH
via IFTTT

First Galaxy M benchmark sets the tone for Samsung’s new series

The first Galaxy M benchmark has surfaced today, giving us an idea of what to expect from this new series. It was first reported earlier this year that Samsung is going to kill off its Galaxy J, On and C series in favor of a single new series called the Galaxy M.

We exclusively reported a couple of weeks ago that Samsung has two Galaxy M phones in development – SM-M205F and SM-M305F. They may be offered as the Galaxy M20 and Galaxy M30 with 32/6G4GB and 64/128GB storage variants, respectively.

First Galaxy M benchmark surfaces

The first Galaxy M benchmark has now surfaced on Geekbench. It’s for the Galaxy M20 or SM-M205F. The listing mentions an Exynos 7885 processor with 3GB of RAM. The device runs Android 8.1 Oreo. There’s not much else that the listing reveals about this handset’s specs.

Samsung hasn’t said anything about a new series of Galaxy smartphones. Reports suggest that they might be out early next year. That would explain why they would come with Android 8.1 Oreo and not Android 9 Pie out of the box. If history is any indication, the Galaxy S10 will be Samsung’s first device with the latest iteration of Android out of the box.

We’ve previously told you that both Galaxy M series phones will be available with dual-SIM variants but single-SIM variants could be offered in some markets. Since they’re meant to be budget devices, they may opt for LCD displays, but there’s not enough clarity on that front just yet.

What impact this reorganization of Samsung’s entry-level and mid-range offerings will have on the company’s bottom line remains to be seen. Its smartphone business is under intense competition in all segments of the market. Samsung is finding it difficult to win customers looking for an affordable smartphone as the Chinese offer more bang for their buck. The Galaxy M might be its first strategic shift to counter the Chinese onslaught.

The post First Galaxy M benchmark sets the tone for Samsung’s new series appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2DN0NRj
via IFTTT

New Gear S3 update should fix the recent battery drainage issue

The long awaited official fix for the sudden battery drainage issue on Gear S3 and Gear Sport is finally here. Samsung is pushing out a new update to the Gear S3 with a changelog that clearly mentions a fix for the issue. The update is already available to download in the US and Europe. It should hit other markets over the next few days.

Gear S3 update fixes battery drainage issue

The Gear S3 has had battery-related issues ever since the big Tizen 3.0 update last year. Samsung has been able to plug the holes up to a certain extent with subsequent updates. However, the problem returned last month, and this time, affected the Gear Sport as well. Although the real reason behind the issue wasn’t known, at least not officially, this temporary fix worked for many. Samsung has now released a permanent fix for the Gear S3, and says the issue occurred only when the watches were connected to certain smartphone models. A fix for the Gear Sport should follow soon.

The new Gear S3 update also includes improved reliability when downloading apps from Galaxy Apps Store. The download size is 10.17 MB and brings software version R760XXU2CRK2 for the Gear S3 frontier. You should be able to download it from the About Gear » Update Gear software section in the Settings tab of the Galaxy Wearable (Samsung Gear) app on your phone.

Do let us know if the update fixes your Gear S3’s battery issues.

The post New Gear S3 update should fix the recent battery drainage issue appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2TsUdUD
via IFTTT

One UI (Android Pie) feature focus: Dolby Atmos gets game mode

The Android Pie beta is currently live for every country in the first phase of testing. Android Pie comes with One UI, Samsung’s new and refreshed user interface, and we have been digging in to see what’s new, what’s changed, and what remains the same as before. As with every major OS upgrade, plenty of new functionality has been added. Even existing features have been improved, and one such feature is Dolby Atmos.

Dolby Atmos now has a dedicated setting for games

On Android Pie, Dolby Atmos brings a dedicated listening mode for gaming. According to its description, ‘Game’ mode enhances “gaming immersiveness and sound effects.” It seems to work similarly to Movie mode and affects background sounds. For example, the flies buzzing around you in the intro level in Modern Combat 5 are more clearly heard compared to Music or Voice mode. The Auto setting doesn’t seem to understand that a game is running, but we’re guessing that may be fixed with software updates.

Check out our One UI (Android Pie) feature focus articles to stay up-to-date with everything the update brings to the Galaxy S9 and other Samsung devices. You can also see some screenshots of One UI here.

The post One UI (Android Pie) feature focus: Dolby Atmos gets game mode appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2Q868bt
via IFTTT

Samsung hosts Bixby Developer Day in Seoul to attract developers

Since the launch of Bixby, Samsung has been striving to make its AI platform more intelligent, integrated, and useful to its customers across product categories. Continuing its efforts, the company hosted the first Bixby Developer Day in Seoul to attract more third-party developers to expand the reach and capabilities of its AI platform.

Samsung showcased the new Bixby Developer Studio and offered training sessions for the same at the event, which had nearly 800 local developers in attendance. The Bixby Developer Studio was first unveiled at the Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco earlier this month. It is currently available for developers in the US, Korea, and China.

Samsung aims to improve Bixby’s speech recognition

Samsung claimed at the forum that it has more third-party developers on its AI platform than Google. The company said it is working to improve the accuracy of Bixby’s speech recognition by providing better development tools for third-party developers around the world. The Korean tech giant also reiterated support for more languages on Bixby in the coming months.

“Bixby’s speech recognition capabilities will continue improving as we draw more outside developers who are using the same tool as the inside developers,” said Lee Ji-soo, Vice President, AI, Samsung IT & Mobile Communications Division, at the event. He further said, “Samsung is focusing on increasing the variety of objects that can have interactions with humans through the voice assistant, whether it be a mobile device, TV, refrigerator or an air conditioner.”

The post Samsung hosts Bixby Developer Day in Seoul to attract developers appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2Knd6o0
via IFTTT

Samsung makes old-school speed hack official with Android Pie and One UI

Samsung has turned an old-school trick to make you device feel faster into an official feature in Android Pie with the new One UI. Turning off animations in the user interface no longer requires activating developer options.

New Galaxy S9 Android Pie feature: Turn off animations

Back in the day, many Android users would make their device feel faster by speeding up, or disabling, interface animations. It’s something we used to recommend as well. In fact, even today it is possible to tap the Build Number field in the Settings » Software information menu seven times to unlock a whole new menu with many developer-centric features. With Android 9.0 and the new One UI, this is no longer necessary, as Galaxy Club points out.

If you head into the Advanced features section of the Galaxy S9‘s Settings app, presuming you are running the Pie beta, you can find a Reduce animations option. Switch it on, and indeed, most animations will be gone from your user experience. Most, but not all, as Samsung leaves a few in place so the interface does not become too rough.

Interestingly, Samsung had already implemented a similar feature on Galaxy devices running Android 8.1 Oreo. For example, on the Galaxy Note 9, you can find a Remove animations option in the Vision section of the Accessibility menu. However, it doesn’t seem to actually affect any animations.

Of course, this is but one small new function in a sea of bigger improvements Samsung brings to its devices with the Android 9.0 Pie update. Earlier, we saw features such as tap-to-wake AOD, a Night mode, and gesture navigation. We expect more tidbits to pop up over the next days and weeks, as we comb through the new software and Samsung releases new builds of the beta software.

If you want to keep up-to-date on all things Pie, and which devices will be upgraded in 2019, keep an eye on our One UI (Android Pie) feature focus series and also see our overview of Samsung’s Android 9.0 roadmap.

The post Samsung makes old-school speed hack official with Android Pie and One UI appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2qW5rEf
via IFTTT

The ultimate Black Friday deals and discounts

Black Friday is around the corner. This year the shopping extravaganza will take place on the 23rd of November and, as always, it’s guaranteed to bring you some amazing deals and discounts. In this post, we’ll share the best Black Friday deals that we come across. The list will be constantly updated; if you find any good deals yourself, do let us know in the comments and we will add those in as well. Also, tell us what category of products you’d want to see more of in these deals.

The deals are categorized by country, but some of them may also offer worldwide shipping, so it’s best to check them all out. That’s in addition to a dedicated list of worldwide deals that we will keep updating this list with over the next few days.

US Black Friday Deals

• [US] All Samsung store Black Friday deals
• [US] Save 40% on selected TV’s at Samsung
• [US] LG 49 Inch 4K LED Ultra HD HDR Smart TV for $350 at DELL
• [US] American Tourister Arona Premium Hardside Spinner 3 piece set for $167.99 when you use coupon code NESTED at Buydig

UK Black Friday Deals

• [UK] All Samsung store Black Friday deals
• [UK] Integral 120GB SSD drive for £17.99 at Mymemory.co.uk
• [UK] Samsung 128GB Evo Plus Micro SD Card for £26.99 at Mymemory.co.uk
• [UK] Ring Video Doorbell Pro for £149.00 at 50Five

Brazil Black Friday Deals

• [BR] Western digital 1TB USB 3.0 external hard drive for R$215 at Amazon
• [BR] Sandisk Micro SD 64GB for R$58.90 at Americanas

World Wide Black Friday Deals

• [WW] VPN for just $1.99 a month at Surfshark.com

The post The ultimate Black Friday deals and discounts appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2ORmYqw
via IFTTT

Is this our first look at Samsung’s Infinity-O display?

The Infinity-O display is one of four new versions that Samsung revealed at its developers’ conference earlier this month. Samsung essentially has solutions for notch, no notch and even panels with a hole for the camera. We were only shown an outline of these new displays at SDC 2018 and it may be a while before we see them on a device.

A recent leak claims to give us our first look at the Infinity-O Display assembly. There’s not much that can be gleaned from it other than the panel having a hole in the top corner. It may debut first on a mid-range device.

Infinity-O display assembly possibly revealed in new leak

Samsung teased a device with such a display panel even before it revealed the Infinity-O. It teased the Galaxy A8s during the launch event for the Galaxy A9s and Galaxy A6s in China. The teaser showed that the display doesn’t have a notch. It was mentioned in subsequent reports that the display would actually have a hole to accommodate the front camera.

The display silhouette that Samsung revealed at SDC 2018 essentially confirmed that to be the case. It has developed a new type of display with a hole in the corner for the front camera. This would allow the company to maximize screen real estate even on devices that don’t get the New Infinity display. That would likely be reserved for the premium handsets.

The leaked display assembly also has a hole in the top corner. It’s in line with what’s known so far about the Infinity-O display. Granted, it’s not difficult to fabricate this, all you need to do is drill a hole in a display assembly after all. There’s nothing there to suggest that it’s from Samsung.

We can expect similar leaks to surface in the coming weeks as the Galaxy A8s is expected to arrive in early 2019. No word as yet on the devices which will bring Samsung’s Infinity-V and Infinity-U notched displays to market.

The post Is this our first look at Samsung’s Infinity-O display? appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2Q6gFUS
via IFTTT

Samsung to ship Bixby 3.0 with the foldable smartphone

Samsung’s Bixby Developer Day is underway in South Korea. Samsung’s much-awaited foldable smartphone will ship with Bixby 3.0, according to a key executive. The company had confirmed this Bixby-focused developer event for South Korea last month with keynote speeches from several important executives.

The event had Samsung’s Vice President Eui-Suk Chung scheduled to speak as well. He leads the research and development of software and Bixby at Samsung’s mobile business. He’s the one responsible for Bixby’s development.

Foldable smartphone will feature Bixby 3.0

The Samsung Developer Conference 2018 was where Samsung unveiled much of what it’s showcasing today. The Bixby Developer Studio and the Bixby Marketplace being the most noteworthy announcements. Furthermore, Samsung is now allowing third-party developers to create features for its virtual assistant. It will distribute them through the marketplace.

Eui-Suk Chung also mentioned that Samsung is preparing to ship the next iteration of Bixby with the foldable smartphone. “The new Bixby currently in the pipeline will be featured in the foldable smartphone,” adding that the company has not yet decided if it will be branded as Bixby 3.0. He didn’t provide a lot of details about the next generation of Bixby, only that it will be an upgraded platform with more capabilities. Samsung rolled out Bixby 2.0 with the Galaxy Note 9 earlier this year.

Samsung provided a glimpse of its foldable display at SDC 2018. It’s yet to show off the actual device. Consequently, reports suggest that we might get to see the foldable smartphone in March next year. We have already exclusively confirmed that the foldable smartphone will be available worldwide.

The post Samsung to ship Bixby 3.0 with the foldable smartphone appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2Dxnb01
via IFTTT

Galaxy A9 (2018) launched in India, pre-bookings start today

Samsung has launched the Galaxy A9 (2018), the world’s first smartphone with four rear cameras, in India today. The company held an event in Gurgaon to unveil its latest Galaxy A smartphone in one of Samsung’s most important markets. India was also one of the markets where the Galaxy A7 (2018) was initially launched, although the A9 (2018)’s Indian launch comes after the device went up for sale in a number of other countries.

Competition is tough, but Galaxy A9 (2018)’s rear cameras set it apart

The Galaxy A9 (2018) will compete with the OnePlus 6T in India in terms of pricing. The Galaxy A9 (2018) starts at ₹36,990 (roughly $520) for the base model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The OnePlus 6T comes at just ₹1,000 more for the base variant, but while it offers a more complete package, the A9 (2018)’s dedicated ultra-wide and telephoto cameras make it stand apart from everything else on the market. The 8GB version of the A9 will be available for ₹39,990 (roughly $560). Consumers ordering it with an HDFC credit or debit card will get an instant ₹3,000 cashback.

Pre-bookings for the device start today at Amazon, Flipkart, Samsung Mall, Paytm Mall, and the Airtel online store. Color options include Bubblegum Pink, Caviar Black, and Lemonade Blue. Deliveries will start on November 28th, the same day the phone will also hit offline retail stores. For more on the Galaxy A9 (2018), do check out our hands-on experience, and also see how its four rear cameras make a difference to what you capture. We’ll have our official review up in the coming days.

The post Galaxy A9 (2018) launched in India, pre-bookings start today appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2Dw0QjA
via IFTTT