الخميس، 25 يوليو 2019

[Poll] Do you even care about the Galaxy Fold anymore?

Nobody will hold it against you if you don’t. Samsung botched the initial Galaxy Fold launch and arguably missed its “Apple moment.” It wasn’t just that the device wasn’t durable enough. The lack of information from Samsung after the April 26 launch was delayed did not inspire confidence.

There was never any question of the Galaxy Fold being discontinued. We knew that it would return. This was confirmed by Samsung’s mobile boss DJ Koh himself a few weeks ago. Earlier today, Samsung finally confirmed that it will relaunch the Galaxy Fold in September.

It has also made significant improvements to address the issues. The display’s protective layer has been tucked into the frame itself. The hinge gap has been reduced and metal reinforcements have been added underneath the display panel for added protection.

That being said, prospective customers will now approach the $2000 device with caution, more so than ever before. They have seen how delicate it was and may not immediately jump to purchase it come September. T-Mobile has already decided it’s not going to carry the Galaxy Fold anymore. Samsung will really have to go out of its way to convince customers that the device won’t face those issues again.

Is it too little, too late though? Do you even care about the Galaxy Fold anymore or did you stop caring about it a long time ago? Vote below and share your thoughts with us in the comments section.

Do you even care about the Galaxy Fold anymore?

The post [Poll] Do you even care about the Galaxy Fold anymore? appeared first on SamMobile.



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Want to buy the Galaxy Fold from T-Mobile? You’re out of luck

Samsung finally confirmed earlier today that it’s going to release the Galaxy Fold in September. If you wanted to buy the Galaxy Fold on T-Mobile, you may have to look elsewhere. The third largest carrier in the United States has said that it’s not going to carry Samsung’s foldable smartphone.

The second coming of the Galaxy Fold has been slated for September. Samsung delayed the April 26 launch after issues were discovered with review units. The company has made some changes to improve the device’s durability.

You’re can’t buy Galaxy Fold from T-Mobile

Samsung itself hasn’t provided a confirmed release date for the Galaxy Fold. One would assume that all of the carrier and retail partners that were on board with the initial launch would carry the device in September. T-Mobile had intended to release the device on April 26 before Samsung delayed it. It was actually one of two US carriers who had committed to sell the device.

You can count T-Mobile out. A spokesperson for the carrier has told The Verge categorically that “T-Mobile will not carry the Galaxy Fold because we already offer customers a wide range of the latest smartphones. Please reach out to Samsung for any further inquiries.”

It appears that T-Mobile may not be that confident in the changes that Samsung has made. The company has made some key changes to address the issues which caused the delay. It has also been rigorously testing the device to ensure that it’s fit for public release. T-Mobile doesn’t seem to be convinced, though.

AT&T, the only other US carrier to sell the phone, is yet to reconfirm that it will sell the device. That’s not to say that the unlocked version of the Galaxy Fold won’t be able to work on these carriers.

We’ll probably have more clarity on the carrier support in the coming weeks. Samsung did say that availability will be limited in select markets initially come September. More precise availability details are going to be provided closer to launch.

The post Want to buy the Galaxy Fold from T-Mobile? You’re out of luck appeared first on SamMobile.



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Wireless PowerShare can help you get a date; says weird Samsung study

According to a Samsung study which – I’m going to say right out of the gate – is a bit weird, 35 percent of Europeans would rather choose to have a fully recharged battery on their phones instead of receiving cash from someone, if given the option. Likewise, the study suggests that Wireless PowerShare is more than just a way to exchange electrical current between devices, and it can be viewed kind of like a gauge that reveals the true nature of your relationships with fellow human beings. In Samsung’s eyes, the study reveals that battery life has become a form of currency (or emotional currency), which would make Wireless PowerShare a human bonding mechanism.

The study reveals that only 14 percent of Europeans are willing to share their battery juice with a stranger. On the other hand, 39 percent of participants would share their battery life with colleagues, while 72 percent would use Wireless PowerShare to help a family member. But it gets weirder.

7 percent chance to get a date, thanks to Wireless PowerShare…

According to Samsung Germany, 62 percent of Europeans would be willing to buy coffee for a stranger for some battery juice as a gesture of gratitude, but 7 percent of participants would go as far as going out on a date with a complete stranger in exchange for some Wireless PowerShare action. The study was conducted with the help of 6,500 participants.

Given these results, Samsung Germany claims that sharing your battery can even be considered a “part of modern dating” and that it can “strengthen a romantic connection.” This is because 21 percent of participants would appreciate it very much if their dates would be willing to share their batteries with them. Meanwhile, 76 percent would be unwilling to share their smartphone’s battery life on the first date, waiting – on average – for the third date before they would make this step.

This whole thing makes me wonder: if you do ask for battery life on your first night out, would that be considered as rude as asking your partner to sleep over on your first date? I’m also wondering if a friendship or marriage could be broken due to PowerShare-related misunderstandings. What if your spouse refuses to share battery life with you? Would that be an indication that she or he no longer loves you?

I’m being a bit facetious here, obviously. Nevertheless, this whole thing sounds pretty darn strange to me. Looking at the whole picture, it resembles some kind of weird social experiment in which Samsung ditches removable batteries to create some form of artificial demand and then implements Wireless PowerShare as a way to study the behavior of humans equipped with smartphones. Evidently, I don’t believe this was planned by Samsung from the beginning so don’t be sending any tinfoil hats my way, but I can’t help but make the analogy.

In closing, if you live in Europe or you’re planning a trip there, remember to always have a fully-charged battery. You might be lucky enough to score a date in exchange for some battery life! You have around 7 percent chances of this happening, judging by Samsung’s study. Be prepared and feel free to check this tutorial on how to use Wireless PowerShare.

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Galaxy S10’s Instagram shortcut makes me post more pictures online

For some, the addition of an ultra-wide camera to the Galaxy S lineup with the Galaxy S10 may not have been as much of a highlight as the Instagram integration that Samsung announced for the flagship. The Instagram integration on the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ works in two ways: You can take a photo with the camera’s dedicated Instagram mode and directly upload it as a story, and you can also upload images from the Gallery app to your feed or post it as a story with the Instagram shortcut.

The Instagram camera mode isn’t as good as it could be, mainly because it doesn’t give you the same high-quality pictures that you get from the camera’s standard shooting modes. It’s still neat to be able to take photos and upload them to Instagram right from the phone’s camera app, but that dedicated Instagram share button is even more useful. I don’t post stories on Instagram, only pictures to my feed, and I love how the Instagram shortcut in the gallery lets me go to the app with two taps, without having to use Android’s standard share functionality.

galaxy s10 instagram

I didn’t really think much about the Instagram integration at first, though. I’m not what you’d call an avid Instagram user and mostly just put up pictures of my car every few weeks, so while I saw the attraction of an Instagram shortcut in the camera and gallery, I didn’t really pay it much heed. But that changed as time went by and I started using that shortcut more and more, and it made me realize how features that can seem trivial at first can make a difference to your user experience.

In fact, I think that shortcut is making me share more pictures on Instagram, because I now see the social network’s icon every time I’m browsing the gallery. And I shudder to think how much I’d be using it if I spent more of my free time going out of the house, which would probably result in me taking more photos I would want to put up online. Not that there’s anything wrong with posting pictures on social networks, but I’ve never been a huge fan of doing that, something that might change thanks to the Galaxy S10’s Instagram integration.

What about you? Do you regularly use the Instagram camera mode and/or gallery shortcut?

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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

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Verizon brings Android Pie to the Galaxy J3 (2018) and Galaxy J3V (2018)

The Galaxy J3 (2018) and Galaxy J3V (2018) at Verizon Wireless have received their first major software update, bumping the OS up to Android 9 Pie. Inevitably, the release brings Samsung’s modernized One UI to the users and also includes the June 2019 security patch for both smartphones. It should fix various vulnerabilities which you can find out more about in our detailed security patch report.

The update’s main highlights

Android 9 Pie and One UI enrich the user experience with a variety of new features, ranging from changes under the hood such as Adaptive Battery and Adaptive Brightness to more visible elements like a new UI for the Camera application.

The Galaxy J3 (2018) and Galaxy J3V (2018) also take advantage of Wi-Fi Calling under Android 9 Pie. This allows you to make and receive phone calls over Wi-Fi networks whenever you might be outside of your carrier’s coverage area.

The update is rolling out over the air and it’s identified by software version J337VPPVRU3BSEB and J337VVRU3BSEB for the Galaxy J3 (2018) and J3V (2018), respectively. In case you haven’t received the software update notification on your phone just yet, you can try triggering the update manually by opening your Settings app and navigating to About Device » Software updates. Then tap the Restart & Install option under System updates.

The post Verizon brings Android Pie to the Galaxy J3 (2018) and Galaxy J3V (2018) appeared first on SamMobile.



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Daily Deal: 17% off JBL Tune 500BT On-Ear Wireless Headphones

Wireless headphones may not offer the best value when it comes to the price-to-sound-quality ratio, but they make up for that with their convenience. There are no messy cables to deal with so you can just focus on what’s important: Listening to your favorite music tracks or watching the latest TV show or the newest video from your favorite YouTuber. JBL is no stranger to high-quality headphones with fair price tags, and right now, you can get a 17% discount on the JBL Tune 500BT On-Ear wireless headphones.

The JBL Tune T500BT are an especially good fit for your smartphone, as they support voice assistants like Apple’s Siri and Google Now. They are rated for 16 hours of battery life on a single charge and the speed charging support can give you an hour’s worth of use from just 5 minutes on the charger.

Use the Buy Now button below to grab a pair while the deal lasts!

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Verizon’s Galaxy Note 10+ 5G pre-order to include a free Galaxy Note 10

Verizon will have a pretty exciting deal for those who pre-order the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G, according to an image released by Twitter leakster evleaks. The 5G variant of the Galaxy Note 10+ was revealed exclusively by us a few months ago, and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg had also confirmed that North America’s biggest carrier will sell the 5G model of Samsung’s upcoming flagship. And it seems those who pre-order the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G on Verizon will get a free Galaxy Note 10 as long as they choose the carrier’s unlimited plan.

That’s a pretty solid pre-order offer, and it also makes sense considering how expensive the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G is expected to be. The Galaxy S10 5G debuted for $1299.99 and is still selling for the same price; the LTE Galaxy Note 10+ is expected to be priced between $1100 and $1150, and that means the 5G model’s price tag could be as high as $1450. That would be the base variant, of course – one can only imagine how much the top variant, which is going to have 1TB of storage, will cost.

Naturally, the finer points of Verizon’s offer will only be revealed once the Galaxy Note 10 goes official. Samsung will unveil the Note 10 and Note 10+ in New York City on August 7, and we can expect carriers to start taking pre-orders from the very next day. Verizon will be extending its 5G network to 20 cities in the US by the end of 2019 and will probably have Samsung’s latest flagship as an exclusive on its network for a while, just like it has exclusive rights on the Galaxy S10 5G right now.

The post Verizon’s Galaxy Note 10+ 5G pre-order to include a free Galaxy Note 10 appeared first on SamMobile.



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Sprint rolling out Galaxy S8 Active July security update

The Galaxy S8 Active is being treated to the July 2019 security update by Sprint. The rugged variant of the Galaxy S8 is getting a new update with software version G892USQS5BSG2. It is an Android Oreo-based update, so the wait for the Android Pie (One UI) update continues.

Sprint Galaxy S8 Active receiving latest security fixes

Sprint has released a software update that brings the latest security patch for the Galaxy S8 Active. The July 2019 Security Maintenance Release includes patches for ten critical and more than a dozen high-risk vulnerabilities in Android OS. Additionally, the release also contains fixes for 13 vulnerabilities that are specific to Samsung smartphones.

The update doesn’t seem to pack any new features, only the latest security enhancements. The Android Pie update, with tons of new features, is long overdue for the Galaxy S8 Active. Multiple variants of the device received Wi-Fi certification with Android Pie back in May itself, but no such update has arrived yet. The other two siblings of the 2018 flagship, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, received the Pie update in February.

The latest security update for the Galaxy S8 Active is now available over the air. You should be able to download it from the Settings » Software update menu on your phone. You can also download the firmware for the update from our database and manually flash it to upgrade to the newest software.

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This may be the Galaxy Fold’s most visible design change

Samsung has finally revealed when it’s going to put the Galaxy Fold on retail shelves. Well, the company hasn’t offered a concrete release date yet, but we now know that the Fold will come out in September. Samsung says it has made multiple changes to the Fold’s design to tackle all the issues that had been discovered when the device was first sent out to the press, and perhaps the most visible change is the updated protection cap covering the gaps between the Fold’s screen and hinge.

You can see the original design for the hinge cap compared to the updated one in the picture below; the protection cap now covers more of the hinge gap, which should stop dust and other particles from being able to slip into the device and wreaking havoc. Foreign particles aren’t something that people think of as a danger for regular smartphones, and it was rather unfortunate Samsung forgot about it as well when designing the Galaxy Fold. The company clearly focused more on the complexities of the device and overlooked the basics, but the hinge gaps should no longer be cause for concern.

Of course, just how well the design changes work in practice is something we will only find out when we get our hands on the Galaxy Fold and have been able to use it out in the real world (although we didn’t face any problems the first time we had the Fold in our possession). September can’t get here soon enough, and we have our fingers crossed that Samsung exercised all due diligence while working on the Fold’s issues, as the company may not be able to recover from the PR nightmare of a second recall of its foldable smartphone.

The post This may be the Galaxy Fold’s most visible design change appeared first on SamMobile.



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Galaxy S10 July security update finally rolling out!

The Galaxy S10 lineup is now receiving an update with the July 2019 security patch. Samsung has been taking its sweet time to bring security updates to its latest flagships ever since the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ went on sale, and the July update has come out pretty late as well. But it’s here now – it is currently rolling out in Switzerland and Germany for the Exynos variant and should become available in other countries over the next few days.

The update comes with software version G97*FXXU3ASG8 and is a 388 MB download over the air. The changelog accompanying it is exactly the same as previous updates, so we will need to dig around to see if there are any new features. Fair warning, though: It seems that once the new update is installed, you cannot go back to older software without a factory reset, so you might want to wait and see if the update is completely bug-free before installing it on your device, especially if your device was affected by issues that plagued previous updates.

You can download the July update over the air by opening the Settings app on your S10e, S10, or S10+, selecting Software update, then hitting the Download and install option. You might want to try this a couple of times if the update doesn’t immediately show up; you can also upgrade your device using the firmware for the latest update by grabbing it from our firmware database.

galaxy s10 july security update

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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

The post Galaxy S10 July security update finally rolling out! appeared first on SamMobile.



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جميع الحقوق محفوظة لمدونة الغريب 2013