Galaxy S8 update with December 2018 security patch out in Germany

Samsung isn’t showing any signs of slowing when it comes to security updates, even when the company is busy working on the Android Pie update. Germany, one of the markets where the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 One UI beta is available, is now seeing the Galaxy S8 being updated with the December 2018 security patch. The December patch has already been released for the Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 9, and the Galaxy Note 8 in some markets.

Galaxy S8 December update now available

The Galaxy S8 update comes with software version G950FXXU4CRL3 and features nothing but improved security. That’s probably going to be the case for all updates for the device until Android Pie comes out. Of course, that doesn’t make these updates any less important. The December patch is especially crucial, as it fixes as many as 40 vulnerabilities in Samsung’s software, including one that could allow someone access to gallery pictures saved in Secure Folder without authentication.

At this moment, only the Galaxy S8 is getting the new update. The Galaxy S8+ shouldn’t be too far behind, though. If you have received this update in a country other than Germany, do let us know in the comments. German users can download the update from the Software update menu in the Settings app on the device.

Thanks, Jonas!

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Hotfix update fixes issues with the latest Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta

Samsung started rolling out the latest Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta three days ago. It was smaller than the earlier releases but brought bug fixes and improvements. It seems that a couple of bugs were able to slip through. For that reason, Samsung has issued a new hotfix update for the third beta release.

It also sent out a hotfix update two weeks ago for the second beta. Users had complained about mobile data connection not working after updating to the second beta. That was addressed through the hotfix update.

Hotfix issued for latest Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta

The latest Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ beta firmware was rolled out three days ago. It addressed quite a few bugs experienced in the earlier release. The list included issues with the lift-to-wake function, crashes of the Phone app, an update error in Galaxy Apps or Google Play, among others.

However, a problem with the reception setting and the visibility of some features in night mode was reported after the beta was released. Samsung has addressed the matter through a new hotfix update. It has only been released in South Korea right now.

Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ owners in the beta program would get firmware version G960NXXU2ZRLA and G965NXXU2ZRLA respectively after the hotfix is applied. Now that it’s out in South Korea, it’s only a matter of time before this hotfix arrives in other beta markets as well.

There are signs now that it may not be long before the final beta release is sent out. Samsung has already committed to releasing Android 9 Pie in January 2019. However, it hasn’t specified whether the firmware would be out in early, mid or late January 2019.

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

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Leaked Galaxy M20 protective case reveals 3.5mm headphone jack

Last week, a rumored front panel of the new M series phone, Galaxy M20, surfaced online revealing a waterdrop notch and thin bezels. Now a purported protective case of the device has come up revealing more purported details about the upcoming smartphone.

Samsung is working on a new Galaxy M series of smartphones which will replace the company’s current Galaxy J, Galaxy On and Galaxy C series. However, the company is yet to acknowledge this lineup’s existence.

Samsung isn’t completely dropping the headphone jack yet

The newly launched Galaxy A8s is Samsung’s first Galaxy A smartphone without a 3.5mm headphone jack. The company may have a long-term plan to completely ditch the headphone jack, but it’s not so doing just yet. This purported Galaxy M20 case clearly has a cutout for the 3.5mm headphone jack. Alongside the headphone jack at the bottom of the device is a cutout for the USB Type-C port. There’s also a tiny hole for the mic and the grille for a bottom-firing speaker.

The other Galaxy M20 protective case image gives us a look of the device’s back panel. There’s a pill-shaped cutout on the top right which should house the device’s vertically stacked dual rear cameras. Below the cameras will be an LED flash while the fingerprint sensor will be placed at the center.

Samsung has reportedly started mass producing the Galaxy M20 and the Galaxy M10 at its big factory in Noida, India. We have exclusively revealed that these devices will be the company’s budget offerings in markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Samsung is planning to launch the devices early next year.

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Samsung Pay for smartwatches now available in South Africa

Samsung Pay is a widely accepted mobile payment service. It is available in 24 different markets and has nearly 2,000 banking and financial partners globally. Samsung has now rolled out the service for smartwatch owners in South Africa. Owners of the Galaxy Watch, Gear S3, and the Gear Sport can now install Samsung Pay on their devices.

Samsung Pay available for Samsung smartwatches in South Africa

Samsung had said last month that it would launch Samsung Pay for smartwatches in South Africa soon. The company has now officially rolled out the support for the compatible wearable devices. However, the payments can be made only through NFC technology. This essentially means you cannot use the service at POS terminals which do not support contactless payments. So no additional luck for the Gear S3 owners despite their device being equipped with MST.

To make payments with your Samsung smartwatch, you first need to register your card with Samsung Pay. You can do so through the Galaxy Wearable app on your Samsung smartphone. This is a one-time process. Once done, you can make payments at any NFC card reader. Just place your watch near the terminal and press and hold the Back key for one second. Now select your card and tap “Pay”. You do not need your watch to be connected with your smartphone to make payments. Also, your watch will request a security PIN if it detects that contact with the body has been broken.

While Samsung Pay is a globally accepted mobile payment service, it is up to the banks and card providers to enable support for the service. Currently, Absa and Standard Bank are the only two banks that support Samsung Pay in South Africa. And not all cards from these banks may work with Samsung Pay. So make sure to verify that your card supports mobile payments through Samsung Pay before proceeding on with using the service.

Have questions about Samsung Pay? Check out our dedicated page to see what it is all about.

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Samsung fixed a bug that could allow hackers to takeover user accounts

According to a report on ZDNet, Samsung fixed a vulnerability in its account management system that could have allowed hackers to take control of any Samsung account by tricking users into clicking on a malicious link. The vulnerability was discovered by a Ukrainian bug bounty hunter, Artem Moskowsky, who reported it to Samsung this month.

The exploit is classified as a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability – a term used to denote vulnerabilities that allow hackers to hoodwink a browser into running hidden commands on other sites that the user is logged into while they’re on the hacker’s site.

Three CSRF vulnerabilities discovered

Moskowsky discovered three CSRF vulnerabilities in Samsung’s account management system – all of which involve a user clicking on a malicious link. The first vulnerability allowed attackers to modify account profile details; the second one allowed them to disable two-factor authentication (if enabled), while the third and the most severe vulnerability allowed hackers to change the user’s account security question and answer.

The third vulnerability was catastrophic since Samsung allowed resetting account passwords by answering security questions. This meant an attacker could initiate a password recovery on the account login page and reset the password using the new security question, thereby gaining full access to the user account that can contain private notes, health data, smart home controls, location data, etc.

Samsung awarded $13,300 to the researcher for discovering these vulnerabilities. None of the reports online mention if these vulnerabilities were actually exploited by any hackers.

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One UI (Android Pie) will allow more customization for third-party themes

Free themes may become second-class citizens in Samsung’s Theme Store with Android Pie, but the paid themes the company wants to thrust on users may make up for it by theming more elements of the interface than is possible on Android Oreo and previous versions of the OS. One of the popular theme designers, Lucas Kendi, has revealed that One UI allows themes to change the look of the notification cards.

The notification cards that show up in the notification shade and on the lock screen are perhaps the only major element that Samsung doesn’t allow third-party themes to change at the moment. And if you regularly change themes on your Galaxy smartphone, you will know how jarring it can be to see those white notification cards. With One UI, these cards will look just like the rest of the UI for a more uniform look no matter which theme you choose. And it’s likely that this change has come about as a result of the new Night mode, which itself is a theme that you can use to switch from the regular white UI to a dark one that’s easy on the eyes and also saves battery life.

And the next Android Pie beta may officially allow users to switch themes and icons instead of needing a workaround, as Samsung is now letting theme designers update their themes for compatibility with One UI/Android Pie. It could also mean we’re not too far away from the stable release of Android Pie. Samsung has said the official release will be in January, although it remains to be seen if the Pie update will come out in early or mid-January instead of in the last few days like previous OS upgrades.

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Galaxy Note 8 on Verizon starts receiving the December 2018 security patch

Samsung started rolling out the December 2018 security patch beginning with the Galaxy Xcover 4 and has since then released the update to the Galaxy S9/S9+, Note 9, Galaxy J5 (2017), Galaxy Tab S4, Galaxy A5 (2017), etc. Galaxy Note 8 on Verizon is also joining the list now as Samsung and Verizon have released the update for the last year’s flagship phablet.

Carrier models tend to receive updates later than the unlocked variants, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with the December patch for the Galaxy Note 8. The Verizon version appears to the first among all the Note 8 variants to receive the latest patch. Unlocked Galaxy models in the US have had the bad reputation of receiving updates much later than the carrier variants, and that seems to be holding true once again for the latest update.

Patches many critical vulnerabilities

The update bumps the Verizon Galaxy Note 8 firmware version to N950USQS5CRK1 and patches six critical vulnerabilities in the Android OS and 40 Samsung-specific vulnerabilities as detailed by the company in its monthly bulletin. Samsung has been adding new features to some of the recent models with these security updates, but we are not sure if that applies to this Note 8 update.

Since Samsung releases updates in stages, not everyone may receive the OTA notification immediately. Eligible users can try to manually trigger the update by clicking the Download updates manually option under Software update in the Settings app. If that doesn’t work, you can also download the latest firmware from our database.

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Galaxy J6+ and Galaxy J4 also get December 2018 security patch

Samsung is rolling out the December 2018 security patch to more Galaxy devices. The Galaxy J6 Plus and the Galaxy J4 are the two new devices to get the latest monthly security update. The update patches six critical Android OS vulnerabilities as well as 40 Samsung Vulnerabilities and Exposures.

Galaxy J6 Plus and Galaxy J4 get December 2018 security patch

Samsung is rolling out firmware version J610FXXU1ARL1 for the Galaxy J6+in Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is an Android 8.1 Oreo based update and bumps only the monthly security patch on the device. The update is being rolled out over the air and may take some time to reach your region and device. However, if you don’t want to wait for the OTA firmware, you can download it from our database as well.

For the Galaxy J4, Samsung is rolling out firmware version J400FPUU2ARK6 in Russia which brings the December 2018 security patch. Users will get a notification when it’s available for their device. You can also manually check for updates by clicking the Download updates manually option under Software Update in the Settings app. Alternatively, you can also download the latest firmware from our database.

The December 2018 security patch is an important one as it fixes a vulnerability which allowed unauthenticated access to the Secure Folder app and the Gallery app. More Galaxy devices should get the update in the coming days.

Galaxy J6+

• Model: SM-J610F
• Dimensions: 161.4 x 76.9 x 7.9mm
• Display: 6.0" (152.4mm) TFT
• CPU: Qualcomm Sanpdragon 425
• Camera: 13 MP, CMOS F1.9 + 5MP, CMOS F2.2

More specifications

Galaxy J4

• Model: SM-J400F
• Dimensions: 151.7 x 77.2 x 8.1mm
• Display: 5.5" (139.5mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 7570
• Camera: 13 MP, CMOS F1.9

More specifications

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Exclusive: Samsung may be developing a new Galaxy Tab A (SM-P205)

Samsung is going to release a handful of new mobile devices in the coming months one of which may be a new Galaxy Tab A. What fans are surely looking forward to the most are the Galaxy S10 and the foldable smartphone. Now, there’s new information to suggest that a tablet may be on the agenda as well.

New Galaxy Tab A possibly launching in Q1 2019

Samsung is working on a new device with the model number SM-P205. It may be launched as the latest addition to the Galaxy Tab A lineup. The base storage option will be 32GB and it will be available in black and grey colors. In addition, we have also spotted firmware version P205DXU0ARL4 for this device.

No further information is available at this point in time. Given its Galaxy A designation, it will most likely be a mid-ranger. Samsung launched the most recent tablet in this series about four months ago. The Galaxy Tab A 10.5 happens to be a bonafide mid-range tablet as well.

What we do hear is that this new tablet is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year. This suggests that an announcement is likely at the Mobile World Congress which takes place in February next year. We’ll be sure to update you about this device as more information comes in.

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Samsung reportedly expanding workforce for autonomous driving solutions

With the smartphone market becoming increasingly saturated, many impacted companies are looking at other avenues of growth. Samsung has been aggressively pursuing opportunities in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet-of-Things (IoT), 5G solutions, and more. Autonomous driving is also supposed to be one such area of interest for the South Korean company, corroborated by the unveiling of its DRVLINE self-driving car platform at CES 2018.

According to The Korean Herald, Samsung is now apparently hiring many software engineers working in the autonomous driving space. “Samsung is looking for working-level engineers with over five years of experience at global automotive companies to hire as part of a new team,” a source told to the publication.

Large-scale reallocation of the workforce

The move is seen as an attempt by Samsung to launch a new business unit as early as next year for autonomous driving solutions – a claim denied by the company so far. The new business unit, if set up, could be part of the System LSI Business of the Device Solutions division, the report says. Samsung’s System LSI Business already makes application processors and image sensors for automobiles.

The report further states that around 200 engineers were transferred from the company’s Semiconductor R&D Center to strengthen the software development workforce in the System LSI Business group. This large-scale reallocation of the workforce is viewed by the industry watchers as an indication of Samsung’s growing interest in the modern automotive sector.

Along with hiring new engineers, the company is also reportedly bringing all the autonomous driving related talent within the company under one roof. All these employees are expected to work on commercialization of new chips for autonomous driving solutions, the report adds. The company is supposedly on track to mass produce SoCs for Tesla’s Model 3 next year.

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