Google Pixel 3a makes Galaxy S10 Night mode camera look even worse

Google has announced its first mid-range Pixel smartphones, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL, and these phones make the Galaxy S10’s nighttime photography skills look even worse. While the Pixel 3a and 3a XL have mid-range specs and single rear and front cameras, Google has equipped them with Night Sight, the software feature that lets the company’s flagship Pixel phones take detailed and well-lit pictures in extremely low-light conditions. The Galaxy S10 has a dedicated Night mode in the camera now but it doesn’t come close to Night Sight, and now, Google is offering the latter on phones that cost less $500.

A $400 phone’s camera night mode beats the Galaxy S10’s

At $400, the Pixel 3a is considerably cheaper than the Galaxy S10e, which retails for $749 in the US. Now, as an overall package, the Pixel 3a falls in the mid-range category and can’t match the Galaxy S10 lineup as far as the specs and features are concerned. And being able to take great photos in the dark without having to tinker with camera settings may not be too important for everyone, but in my opinion, Samsung now has no excuse to not offer something like Night Sight to its consumers as soon as it possibly can.

Samsung probably won’t be able to fully match the capabilities of Night Sight, as Google is using data from the billions of photos it has on its servers (through Google Photos and other services) to make the algorithms that power Night Sight. There’s no reason Samsung can’t do better, though. The Galaxy S10 camera’s Night mode can make a difference in low-light conditions, but it’s just a basic night mode and not truly impressive compared to what the Pixels can do with more basic camera hardware.

The Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL might not do too well outside the US, but with Google now offering a flagship-grade camera on a mid-range phone and Chinese OEMs already breathing down Samsung’s neck, the Korean giant needs to pick up the pace. My colleague Danny thinks the Galaxy S11 to be a flagship ‘camera’ phone, but now that Google’s mid-range Pixels have come into the picture (no pun intended), Samsung would do well to bring something impressive in the camera department this year itself with the Galaxy Note 10.

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

• 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 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

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No Android Q beta for Samsung Galaxy phones… not yet anyway

In news that will surprise no one, Google’s Android Q beta that goes live today will not be available for any Galaxy phones. Last year, Google teamed up with a few manufacturers to allow non-Pixel smartphones–those that ran stock Android and those that ran customized versions–to test the Android Pie beta, but Samsung made Galaxy owners wait for its own beta program, and it’s going to be doing that this year as well.

Samsung’s Android Q beta program will come at some point

Again, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to most folks, even if it may be disappointing to hear. Samsung sells too many phones to offer beta programs as quickly as other manufacturers, and it also needs to make plenty of changes to the core Android experience before allowing its consumers to test a new version of Android. That said, considering how quickly Samsung released the stable Android Pie update for many of its devices, we can hope it will start the Android Q beta program earlier than it did the Android Pie beta program last year.

Despite being the tenth version of the OS, Android Q is a somewhat boring update, with Google focusing on improving features that it launched in stock Android Pie, such as navigation gestures. It also brings a dark theme, which Galaxy phones already have with Android Pie. The most interesting feature seems to be Live Caption, an accessibility feature that gives you subtitles for videos or audio playing in any app on the device, similar to how captions work in YouTube.

Android’s notifications will also be getting some changes, like auto-suggested replies for text messages based on their context. Then there’s native support for foldable devices that Samsung is helping Google with (as the former had announced at its unveiling of the Galaxy Fold), with Android Q bringing features such as the ability for apps to seamlessly switch between mobile and tablet view when a foldable device is unfolded.

Android Q will enable security updates via the Play Store

The one aspect of Android Q that will be of interest to Galaxy smartphone owners is called Project Mainline. Starting with devices that launch with Android Q out of the box, Google will be able to update critical security components of the OS like it currently updates apps over the Google Play Store. This will take away the need for Samsung and other OEMs to release a regular software update with the security fixes for each month, although manufacturers will be able to opt out of Project Mainline if they wish.

Whether Samsung will do that remains to be seen. Furthermore, it will be interesting to see what the company’s version of Android Q will offer, especially after everything Android Pie brought to the table, like the beautiful One UI interface and plenty of minor and major new functionality. It will probably be a while before we hear anything about the update from Samsung, though, since it’s still busy delivering Android Pie to many of its devices.

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Samsung claims to have topped India’s premium smartphone market in Q1 2019

Samsung has been facing a two-pronged threat to its smartphone business in India over the last couple of years. In the budget segment, Xiaomi’s Redmi devices have emerged as market favorites, putting pressure on Samsung’s shipments volume. On the other hand, another Chinese rival OnePlus has made steady progress in the premium segment, posing a threat to Samsung’s profitability.

The launch of the Galaxy S10 lineup seems to have given Samsung a much-needed lead in the premium segment in the subcontinent. Speaking to IANS, Aditya Babbar, Director at Samsung India’s mobile business, said the company topped India’s premium smartphone market in Q1 2019 by clocking 68.9 percent volume market share and 65.9 percent value market share.

Galaxy S10 off to a good start

In March, when the S10 lineup went on sale, the company claims to have registered 76.5 percent volume market share and 77 percent value market share in the INR 30,000 and above (~$430) category. Babbar also claimed the Galaxy S10 pre-bookings were twice that of the Galaxy S9.

“As you are aware that we always share actual sales numbers, not just shipments, from German market research firm Gfk. The Galaxy S10 series with industry-first features has received a tremendous response in India and the numbers prove that,” Aditya Babbar told the agency.

It is common for companies to claim their latest and greatest flagships have been doing very well in the market. To get a more realistic picture of the situation, we have to wait for the company’s quarterly results and sales reports from market research firms. The Galaxy S10 does seem to have helped Samsung’s fortunes, though. The company has regained some lost market share in the lucrative Chinese market as well on the back of the Galaxy S10 series.

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Samsung Pay picks up support for Sincredi in Brazil

From here on out, Sincredi customers can link their credit and debit card to Samsung Pay in Brazil, bumping the total number of supported financial institutions in the region up to twelve. The new-found support will allow those with access to a compatible handset to use the service to complete transactions both online and in-store, using either MST or NFC for the latter.

“This is another partnership that brings convenience and safety to members, making their day to day more practical and uncomplicated,” said Head of Planning and Product Control at Banco Cooperativo Sicredi, Gisele Rodrigues, before reiterating that customers will first have to authenticate themselves using either a PIN or fingerprint recognition before making a transaction.

Here’s a look at all the supported banks in the region:

• Banco do Brasil
• Banco Inter
• Banco Neon
• Banrisul
• Banco Bradesco
• Brasil Pre-Pagos
• Caixa Econômica Federal
• Itaú Unibanco
• Porto Seguro
• Satander
• Sincredit
• Uniprime Norte do Paraná

Samsung Pay is one of the world’s leading payment solutions, with a significant market share in the United Kingdom and the Untied States. For that reason, it should come as no surprise to hear that US retailer Target recently announced a new initiative to modernize its brick-and-mortar stores with the introduction of support for the platform in its NFC form, building on the existing MST gateway.

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May 2019 security patch details confirmed by Samsung

Samsung has confirmed the details of the May 2019 security patch today. The company releases a new security patch every month for compatible devices. These updates are light on new features but they do apply essential fixes for vulnerabilities found in Android and Samsung’s own software.

Google has already put out its Android Security Bulletin for this month which details all of the OS vulnerabilities that have been addressed with this release. It points out that there have been no reports of “active customer exploitation or abuse” of the newly reported issues.

May 2019 security patch details

Fixes for seven critical vulnerabilities are included in the May 2019 patch in addition to patches for dozens of high and moderate risk vulnerabilities. The most severe of these vulnerabilities was found in the Media framework. It could allow a remote attacker to use a special file to run arbitrary code on a device within the context of a privileged process.

The security patch for the month of May 2019 also brings fixes for 21 Samsung Vulnerabilities and Exposures (SVE) items. These are the issues that were identified in Samsung’s own software. For example, an issue with the keyboard leaking clipboard contents on the lock screen through Bixby has been fixed.

There are plenty of devices which will receive the latest security patch in the coming weeks. Samsung will gradually begin the roll out with its flagship devices likely being the first to get it. However, we’ve seen Samsung start the roll out with mid-range devices as well. We’ll be sure to let you know when the patch starts rolling out to devices.

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Verizon Galaxy S10 gets April 2019 security patch in new update

Galaxy S10 owners on Verizon are getting a new software update that brings the April 2019 security patch to the device. Verizon is the second of the four major North American carriers to be releasing the April security update for Samsung’s latest flagships, although it’s a bit late at this point as we’re a week into May, which means we could see AT&T and T-Mobile skipping the April update altogether.

The update comes with software version G973USQU1ASD7; it’s out for the Galaxy S10 at the moment but should be reaching Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10+ owners as well in the next few hours. Verizon hasn’t yet updated its official Galaxy S10 support page so we’re not aware of the changelog, but the update hopefully includes the new dedicated camera Night mode. If you have a Galaxy S10e, S10, or S10+ on Verizon, you can check if the update is available by tapping the Download and install option in the Settings » Software update menu on the phone.

We also have the firmware for the new update in our firmware database, and you can use that to upgrade if the over-the-air update isn’t yet available for your device. Do let us know what changes you see once you’ve installed the update on your Galaxy S10.

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