الغريب: 04/18/19

الخميس، 18 أبريل 2019

Galaxy Fold battery life is promising in our early experience

For powering the Galaxy Fold and its 7.3-inch and 4.6-inch inner and cover displays, Samsung has equipped its foldable smartphone with a 4380 mAh battery. Considering regular flagship phones now have 4,000 mAh batteries, the Fold’s battery capacity doesn’t instill much confidence. While most folks probably aren’t going to use the Galaxy Fold in tablet mode all the time, it will still see plenty of use in its completely unfolded state, and not being able to keep up with the user’s demands would be a major point of contention.

Thankfully, it seems like the Fold will be able to keep up, based on our early experience. As you can see in the screenshot below, battery life stats on our Fold’s first full charge are quite promising. We used it in both tablet and phone form and did plenty of browsing, calling, and Twitter-ing and were surprised to see the battery life easily exceeding that of the Galaxy S10+. And perhaps the primary reason is that the Galaxy Fold uses the Snapdragon 855 SoC while all our Galaxy S10 devices are powered by the Exynos 9820, which isn’t as efficient as the Snapdragon chip.

Still, the Galaxy Fold is a top-of-the-line device with a 7.3-inch screen, so seeing such endurance with just a 4,380 mAh battery was a pleasant surprise for us. Of course, we’ll need to test it over a longer time period to arrive at a proper conclusion. It will be especially interesting to see how it will endure extensive use over a mobile data connection instead of Wi-Fi, although you’ll have to wait for our Galaxy Fold review to find out.

In the meantime, we’ll be pampering our Galaxy Fold with extreme care so that we don’t run into the display issues some other publications have in the last couple of days. Well, not really, as we want to see how the Galaxy Fold fares with the usual day-to-day handling that a regular smartphone has to go through, but we’d be lying if we said we don’t have our fingers crossed.

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Samsung launches its 8K QLED TV in the UAE

Samsung has launched its first 8K QLED TV, the Samsung Q900, in the United Arab Emirates, where it’s available in two sizes: 75-inch and 82-inch. Pricing is set at AED 24,999 ($6805) for the former and AED 31,999 ($8711) for the latter. A 65-inch and a 98-inch version are also expected to hit the shelves in the region in the near future, though there’s no word on pricing for either of them.

Announced at CES 2019, the Samsung Q900 features a Quantum Processor, which can upscale lower-resolution content from set-top boxes, consoles and streaming services to 8K. The range also delivers an improved Bixby experience, according to Samsung, and can achieve an astonishing maximum brightness of 4000nits — creating an unrivalled viewing experience in almost all scenarios.

It’ll be a while until 8K is the norm

What’s interesting is the focus Samsung puts on the Q900’s ability to upscale content to 8K, and that’s because the TV has to. With 4K only just making its way into the average household, it’s going to be a while before native 8K content is the norm. So for now, those with enough dosh to bag themselves a Q900 (we’re looking at you, sheiks) will have to put up with upscaled Full HD and 4K.

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SamMobile Daily Recap, April 18, 2019: Galaxy S10 night mode camera, Galaxy Fold troubles, and more

We publish a lot of stories on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the majority of news breaks during our European hours of operation, which makes it difficult for our readers in the US (and other regions) to keep up. However, we think we’ve come up with a fantastic solution — a daily recap.

Here’s what we covered today.

Phones

Samsung will investigate Galaxy Fold display issues, won’t delay launch

Sprint will replace all Galaxy S10 units with LTE issues

Breaking: Galaxy S10 gets dedicated Night mode in camera with new update

Galaxy S10 outsold the Galaxy S9 in its opening week the US

Samsung’s leather case for the Galaxy Fold may cost €100 in Europe

Firmware News

Galaxy A8 Star updated with April 2019 security patch

April security patch touches down on the Galaxy J7 Duo

Samsung now rolling out April security patch for the Galaxy S10

Galaxy J6 Android Pie update rolling out in India

Tips and tricks

Here’s how to use lock screen in landscape mode on the Galaxy S10

Opinion

Is the Galaxy Fold breaking really that big of a deal?

The post SamMobile Daily Recap, April 18, 2019: Galaxy S10 night mode camera, Galaxy Fold troubles, and more appeared first on SamMobile.

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Samsung’s leather case for the Galaxy Fold may cost €100 in Europe

Despite the complaints from reviewers about display failures, the Galaxy Fold is all set to hit the market in select regions next week. Priced close to $2000, it’s an expensive purchase and customers would probably want to protect it with a case. Samsung offers a free Kevlar case in the box, and that should be enough for many customers. The company will also sell a leather case separately, as we reported exclusively last month, for those who want something a bit more premium.

According to well-known leaker Roland Quandt, the leather case will be priced at €100 in Europe. We don’t know if that translates to a $100 price tag in the US, but the chances are high that it might. While it sounds expensive for a simple case, do remember that customers buying a $2000 phone are the target market here. Moreover, there will be plenty of cheaper and more creative third-party options to choose from once the device goes on sale.

The design of the leather case is similar to the Kevlar counterpart. It’s a two-piece design without any hinge or smart features. It comes in black and white color options. Other than how it looks and feels in hand, it offers no additional benefits over the free case in the box. Whether those gains are worth the €100 price tag is subjective.

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Here’s how to use lock screen in landscape mode on One UI (Android Pie)

Long-time users of Galaxy smartphones rejoiced when Samsung added the option to use the home screen in landscape orientation with the Galaxy S9 last year. We’ve seen the option on all Galaxy devices running Android 8.0 Oreo since then, and with the Android Pie and One UI update, Samsung has added the option to enable screen rotation for the lock screen as well. It’s not just the lock screen that can be used in landscape mode on One UI — you can also enable or disable screen rotation for the calling screen.

The menu where you can toggle screen rotation for the lock screen and calling screen is buried in a place where most people won’t look, but fret not, as we’re here to help. It’s easy as pie (no pun intended): On your phone, swipe down from the top of the display twice to expand the notification shade to see all quick toggles, tap the text that says Auto rotate (or Portrait or Landscape, in case auto rotate is off), and then enable the toggle switches next to Lock screen and Voice call screen. For a visual guide, just see the GIF animation below.

Once you’re done, your phone will show you the lock screen and/or voice call screen in landscape mode when you have auto rotate enabled. There’s one caveat, though. In landscape mode, the lock screen does not show the content of notifications, only the icons for the apps that have pending notifications, so you have to be in portrait mode if you like checking out notifications right from the lock screen.

Did you know you can also manually switch orientation of the screen without having to use the auto rotate setting? Find out how in this guide. And for more tips on getting the most out of your Galaxy smartphone, check out our tips and tricks section.

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Is the Galaxy Fold breaking really that big of a deal?

The internet is rife with outrage that Samsung’s Galaxy Fold isn’t as durable as one would have hoped, breaking after being in the hands of reviewers for no more than 24 hours. But I think it’s been blown of proportion. After all, in most instances, the reason it malfunctioned was because the owner removed or toyed with the protective film covering the screen, which shouldn’t have been detached.

Samsung should have made an effort to signpost that the feature, which is integral to the screen functioning as intended, should not have been tampered with. Based on the backlash it’s encountered as a result of the mishap, it’s almost certainly something it will do before the handset starts shipping to customers in the United States on April 26 — the original local release date.

That’s right — on the back of all the criticism, Samsung decided against delaying the launch. Instead, it issued a statement expressing the importance of leaving what it’s calling the “top layer” of the screen in place, stating removing it could cause significant damage, as we saw in the case of some of the affected reviewers. That information should be plastered absolutely everywhere.

Samsung’s in-house repair guide acknowledges the importance of the film, so why isn’t it stressing it publicly?

At the moment, there’s one reference on the cellophane wrap that covers the handset in the box. But let’s face it: that’s not something many people read at all — a sentiment YouTube star Unbox Therapy shares. There should be a little card in the box with a massive warning symbol, as well as multiple push notifications when the handset is turned on, stressing the importance of the film.

We should add that we’ve had no issues whatsoever with our device and from what we’ve heard, neither have other reviewers in Europe. The issue appears to be isolated to the United States; indicating that there could also be a region-specific defect as The Verge, for example, said they didn’t remove the film before their device malfunctioned; though they could have unintentionally tampered with it.

It’s important to remember that the Galaxy Fold is an experimental device in all aspects — from the packaging it comes bundled in right down to the folding mechanism itself. If Samsung had put more effort into making users aware that the film shouldn’t be removed, most of the broken devices would still be working today. Sure, some wouldn’t… But it’s normal for some review units to break.

All devices have defects, even if only a couple of units suffer from them. A handful of Galaxy S10 5Gs that fly off the production line could have a faulty camera, for example, while the other ten thousand produced that same day may not. They’re known as lemons. So it’s possible that The Verge could have received a lemon. Samsung is inspecting all of the broken units to be certain, though.

Still, those forking out $1980 should keep in mind that this is an experimental device, and that’s reflected in how exclusive it is. It’s available in the thousands, not the hundreds of thousands, millions or the billions. It’s aimed at the tech-obsessed, wanting a taste of the future before it’s mainstream — and that’s exactly what Google did with Glass. It’s not perfect, but it’ll get there.

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Galaxy J6 Android Pie update rolling out in India

Samsung has released the Android Pie update for the Galaxy J6 in the Indian market. The J6 received its first Pie update in Italy earlier this month, and it’s not surprising to see Samsung has released it in India soon after, as the Galaxy J6 and Galaxy J8 were big hits in the country. The Galaxy J8 hasn’t been updated to Pie in India yet, but it shouldn’t take very long for that to change.

The Galaxy J6 Pie update for India comes with software version J600GDXU3BSD9. It should have most of the Android Pie features you expect, many of which you can read about in our One UI (Android Pie) feature focus series of articles, along with the beautiful new One UI interface. What the update doesn’t have is the latest security patch, but that’s not something that will concern most users now that they can use Android Pie on their Galaxy J6.

To update your Galaxy J6 over the air, open the phone’s settings, tap Software update, then tap Download updates manually. The update should start downloading after a few seconds; if it doesn’t and you don’t feel like waiting, you can download the Android Pie firmware from our database and flash it on your Galaxy J6.

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Galaxy S10 outsold the Galaxy S9 in its opening week the US

Samsung sold 16% more units of the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10+ in their opening week in the US than it did when the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ launched in 2018, with the Galaxy S10+ accounting for 50% of all sales and the Galaxy S10e selling the least; though it was the addition of that budget device that carried the firm over the line, according to Counterpoint Research.

In fact, the Galaxy S10e was responsible for almost all the 16% hike. Counterpoint Research, the source of these statistics, noted that the combined sales of the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ weren’t too dissimilar to that of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, leaving the remaining volume down to the Galaxy S10e — one of the best smartphones Samsung has churned out in recent months.

“The US is a key market for Samsung as this is where the majority of its premium smartphones are sold,” said Jeff Fieldhack, Research Director at Counterpoint Research. “The Galaxy S10e is not cannibalizing older models like the Galaxy S8 or the Galaxy S9. It is actually helping Samsung gain share.” And that could help it reclaim the top spot in the US market for the first time since 2017.

Galaxy S10

Model: SM-G973F
Dimensions: 70.4 x 149.9 x 7.8mm
Display: 6.1"(157.5mm) Super AMOLED
CPU: Exynos 9820 Octa
Camera: 12 MP.CMOS F2.4 45° Telephoto & 12MP F1.5 77° & 16MP F2.2 123° Ultra-wide

More specifications

Galaxy S10e

Model: SM-G970F
Dimensions: 69.9 x 142.2 x 7.9mm
Display: 5.8” (146.5mm) Super AMOLED
CPU: Exynos 9820 Octa
Camera: 12 MP, CMOS F1.5/F2.4 (77°) & 16MP, CMOS F2.2 (123°)Ultra Wide

More specifications

Galaxy S10 Plus

Model: SM-G975F
Dimensions: 74.1 x 157.6 x 7.8mm
Display: 6.4"(162.5mm) Super AMOLED
CPU: Exynos 9820 Octa
Camera: 12 MP.CMOS F2.4 45° Telephoto & 12MP F1.5/F2.4 77° & 16MP F2.2 123° Ultra-wide

More specifications

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

Galaxy S8

Model: SM-G950F
Dimensions: 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0mm
Display: 5.8” (146.5mm) Super AMOLED
CPU: Exynos 8895
Camera: 12 MP, Dual Pixel F1.7 OIS

More specifications

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Breaking: Galaxy S10 gets dedicated Night mode in camera with new update

Samsung’s latest update for the Galaxy S10 brings a dedicated Night mode to the camera app. It was rumored before that the company would be bringing a dedicated Night mode to its latest flagships with a software update in late April or early May, and that’s exactly what has happened. This update also includes the April 2019 security patch and is available in Switzerland at the moment.

Developing…

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Samsung now rolling out April security patch for the Galaxy S10

At long last, Samsung has released this month’s security update for the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10+. The update, which is making the rounds in Switzerland, addresses five critical and dozens of high-risk vulnerabilities in the Android OS and 15 that are specific to Samsung’s firmware.

This news comes a little less than a week after the firm started distributing a near-identical update for its former flagship Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, as well as the latest Note series handset, the Galaxy Note 9, and two weeks after it touched down on the Galaxy Note 8 — the first device to receive it.

It’s unclear what’s bundled in the update, aside from all of the aforementioned changes baked into Samsung’s April 2019 Security Maintenance Release (SMR). We will, like usual, conduct a thorough investigation as soon as it reaches our Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10+ and report back.

Those in Switzerland wishing to see if the update is available for their Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10+ can do so by heading into Settings, followed by Software update, then Download and install, or they can download the firmware from our database to flash it onto their handset manually.

The release should start rolling out elsewhere in the near future — we’ll let you know as soon as it does.