Samsung Members app to get Night mode support next year

The Samsung Members app will get a dark theme that works with the Night mode on Galaxy devices (Dark mode on Android 10) next year. The Samsung Members app comes preloaded on all Galaxy smartphones and tablets and lets device owners interact with others via the community forums, get help from Samsung’s customer care, troubleshoot issues on their device, and even join beta programs for new versions of Android.

The app has seen a few user interface upgrades in the last couple of years but has been missing a dark theme, which will change next year according to a post from the global community manager on the Samsung community forums in Korea. It’s worth noting that Samsung Members isn’t the only official Samsung app that lacks a dark theme. The Galaxy Store doesn’t have a dark interface, either, and we can only assume Samsung will be fixing that in the next few months.

After all, even the Google Play Store and other Google apps now have a dark UI thanks to Android 10’s dark mode, and Samsung will probably want to do the same for some of its important apps, like the Galaxy Store. It’s actually surprising the company hasn’t already done that, considering Galaxy devices have an official system-wide dark theme since Android Pie came out, but hey, better late than never, right?

Do you use the Samsung Members app regularly?

The post Samsung Members app to get Night mode support next year appeared first on SamMobile.

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

Samsung India tops record TV sales during Diwali, prepares new discounts

Samsung India registered record TV sales during the festive season. The company claims that numerous consumers have looked to upgrade to larger TVs throughout this year’s Diwali celebration, with overall Smart TV sales doubling from a year ago.

Not only has Samsung sold three times the amount of QLED TVs compared to the 2018 festive season, but the company also managed to sell twice as many UHD TVs and Smart TVs. To top it all off, the so-called lifestyle TV The Frame – which was introduced to India roughly three months ago – sold in record numbers, although exact figures weren’t revealed.

Discounts and incentives played a role in the high TV sales

Samsung India is making an active effort to improve its position in the TV market, as competition from rival brands continues to ramp up. Earlier in the year, Samsung India revamped its TV portfolio in an attempt to better compete with its rivals Xiaomi, LG, and Sony. It did this by offering a solution for every price point.

Time will tell if the strategy worked well enough to propel Samsung in the lead, but the company’s efforts have not stopped. One of the reasons why Samsung sold this many TVs during the festive season is that it offered up to 25% instant discounts on QLED and 4K UHD TVs. Likewise, select QLED TV models were paired with a Galaxy S10 flagship or Galaxy A50 mid-range warrior, while 4K UHD TV buyers received gifts including the Galaxy M30 and Google Home Mini.

More discounts to come!

Samsung India isn’t stopping its deals with Diwali, and the company already announced special offers for the upcoming festival of Gurpurab. Therefore, until November 30, select Samsung TV models will be paired with gifts including the Galaxy S10, the Amazon Echo Dot, or the Samsung Home Theater for free.

Furthermore, Samsung India will also offer bundles on other consumer electronics – ranging from TVs to washing machines, ovens, air conditioners, and refrigerators – for the upcoming wedding season. Prospective buyers will be able to acquire these bundles with easy financing and zero down payment.

Are you in the market for a new Samsung smart TV or have you already acquired one

The post Samsung India tops record TV sales during Diwali, prepares new discounts appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/33lnULZ
via IFTTT

Netflix will drop support for older Samsung smart TVs beginning December 1

Netflix is going to stop working on some older Samsung smart TVs beginning December 1, 2019. Samsung broke the news on its official webpage, while Netflix is sending out error messages directly to the TVs of affected customers.

The error message simply states that ‘Netflix will no longer be available on this device after December 1, 2019.‘ The announcement is a little bit nondescriptive. It doesn’t go into detail as to why support is being dropped for some older devices, other than it being ‘due to technical limitations.’

Which Samsung devices are affected? We don’t know yet

As yet, there’s not a lot of information to go by in regards to which older smart TV models will no longer be supported after December 1st. Samsung provided a link to Netflix’s list of compatible devices, but this is, in fact, a tutorial page that doesn’t mention much about device compatibility. So unless you’re looking for guides on how to use Netflix on your Samsung device, the link won’t be of much help.

Whatever technical limitations might prevent older Samsung smart TVs from accessing Netflix in the future, there’s not much that Samsung could do to avoid this. This change doesn’t affect only Samsung-branded TVs. Samsung is not being treated any differently; it’s not a special case and it’s not being singled out. Whatever changes Netflix’s underlying systems might be going through, they don’t seem to go hand-in-hand with older hardware.

Do you own a Samsung smart TV? Have you ever been greeted with this error message? If so, feel free to let us know in the comment section which TV model you use and when you’ve started receiving the error.

The post Netflix will drop support for older Samsung smart TVs beginning December 1 appeared first on SamMobile.

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

Samsung intros Collective Memory, an AI-driven customer support service

Samsung is improving customer service in the Netherlands with the help of artificial intelligence and what the company calls Collective Memory. The latter is an AI-driven customer support solution that leverages machine learning to deliver fast and better customer help.

Collective Memory was developed by Samsung together with Teleperformance and Building Blocks. The system has been put into place ‘to ensure that consumers do not have to wait unnecessarily‘ according to the Director of Customer Service at Samsung Electronics Benelux, Daan van der Mijden. It can adapt through machine learning and improve its answers based on previous responses and interactions with other employees and customers.

Collective Memory is an AI-human joint effort

As with virtually any other AI and machine learning algorithms, Collective Memory makes predictions based on previous interactions and its capabilities are bound to improve in time. But the system won’t work independently from other Samsung employees. Collective Memory doesn’t replace the human customer service representative, it only aims to streamline the service process and help the employee offer the best solution to customers.

Collective Memory aims to predict issues and deliver the right answers to customer service employees, who can then decide to reject or modify the answer or pass it along to the customer. Should the employee reject or modify the first solution offered by Collective Memory, the system will analyze that choice and continue to learn and improve.

In other words, Collective Memory is not just a robot waiting for you on the line when you make a phone call to customer support. It’s a man-machine effort that tries to combine the best of both worlds to deliver fast and accurate customer support.

Samsung already tested Collective Memory and the results are positive. The company claims to have gained 10% efficiency, and this is only the beginning. The machine learning algorithms fed by employees will continue to improve Collective Memory in time, leading to even higher efficiency gains. The system is launching in the Netherlands, and if proven successful in the long run, it will likely be implemented in other markets as well.

The post Samsung intros Collective Memory, an AI-driven customer support service appeared first on SamMobile.

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

Galaxy S11 camera codenamed ‘Hubble’, 5x optical zoom confirmed?

What may be the most concrete evidence of the Galaxy S11 featuring a camera system with increased zoom capability over previous flagships has popped up online today, thanks to the folks over at GalaxyClub. According to the publication, the Galaxy S11’s camera is codenamed ‘Hubble’. The codename no doubt refers to the Hubble Space Telescope, and it’s as good a sign as any that rumors of the Galaxy S11 having 5x optical zoom have merit.

The Galaxy S11, which is codenamed ‘Picasso’, is expected to have a 5x zoom camera that uses a ‘periscope system’ that allows the camera module to sit flush with the body of the smartphone because the sensor and lenses are arranged sideways and utilize the principle of reflecting light in a telescope. Samsung has been mass producing such a camera sensor since early this year, and multiple reports in the last couple of months have said that the sensor will first be used in the Galaxy S11.

Could Hubble hint at 5x optical zoom and a 108MP primary camera?

Of course, some might say that a camera with just 5x zoom may not do justice to the Hubble codename, but these codenames usually just signify the idea behind a product and aren’t meant to be taken in the literal sense. And, after two years of 2x zoom cameras on Galaxy flagships, just a move up to 5x zoom will be a notable upgrade. It might not be enough to differentiate it from the Galaxy S10, but hey, maybe that’s why the S11 will have a 108MP primary camera as well.

The 108MP camera might even partly be the reason behind Samsung choosing that particular codename, but with the Galaxy S11 still a few months away, we have to take all of these leaks and rumors with the proverbial pinch of salt. Samsung recently started developing the Galaxy S11’s software so it’s likely to have finalized the phone’s hardware, which means we should start seeing more and more leaks that give us a clearer picture of the Korean giant’s next flagship going forward.

The post Galaxy S11 camera codenamed ‘Hubble’, 5x optical zoom confirmed? appeared first on SamMobile.

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

Major US retailers are selling the Galaxy Tab S4 for $450

The Galaxy Tab S6 may be Samsung’s latest and greatest tablet, but the Tab S4 is still a good option for many users even in late 2019. This is even more true when you consider the attractive discounts major US retailers are currently offering on this device.

Amazon, Best Buy, and Samsung are selling the Galaxy Tab S4 at an attractive $200 discount for the Wi-Fi only model. The discount is applicable on both the 64GB and 256GB storage variants, bringing their price to $450 and $550, respectively. Best Buy is also giving an additional 25% discount on a memory card of your choice when you purchase the tablet.

The former flagship tablet has nearly all the important features you’ll find on the Tab S6. It comes with a 10.5-inch Super AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB RAM, 64/256 GB internal storage, microSD slot, 13 MP rear camera, 8 MP selfie camera, quad speakers, and a 7300mAh battery. It launched with Android 8.1 onboard, but Samsung has upgraded it to Android Pie with One UI earlier this year.

Samsung’s flagship tablets, including the Galaxy Tab S4, support S Pen, making them ideal Android devices for note taking. Unlike Apple, the Korean tech giant includes a stylus in the box, so you don’t have to pay more for that. However, if you need a keyboard for the tab, that would be a separate purchase. If you’re planning to buy the Galaxy Tab S4, do check out our review of the device here.

The post Major US retailers are selling the Galaxy Tab S4 for $450 appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile https://ift.tt/2oNKAp7
via IFTTT

Galaxy Note 9 gets November 2019 security update

The Galaxy Note 9 is also getting updated with the November 2019 security patch this week, along with the Galaxy S9 and S9+. As is often the case, the November update for the Note 9 has debuted on the Exynos-powered model in Germany, but it should be rolling out in other markets in the coming days. The update sports build number N960FXXS4CSJ1.

Samsung detailed the November 2019 security patch earlier today, revealing that it brings fixes for nine critical Android OS vulnerabilities in addition to a slew of high and moderate-risk vulnerabilities. One of these is a fix for a critical vulnerability that was discovered back in September and was found to have been exploited by an Israeli cyber intelligence firm, although the Note 9 was not mentioned on the list of affected devices at the time. The November patch also fixes 39 vulnerabilities that are exclusive to Samsung’s software, information on which can be found here.

The latest Galaxy Note 9 update brings no new features, and owners of the device will have to wait for the Android 10 and One UI 2.0 update for any meaningful changes. If you have a Note 9 and reside in Germany, you can download the update over the air by opening the Settings app on your phone, tapping Software update, followed by Download and install. Alternatively, you can download the latest firmware from our archive and manually upgrade the phone with a Windows PC.

Have you received the November update on your Galaxy Note 9? If yes, do let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to mention your country as well.

The post Galaxy Note 9 gets November 2019 security update appeared first on SamMobile.

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

Galaxy S10 Lite’s 4,500 mAh battery confirmed

We already know the complete Galaxy S10 Lite spec sheet. Well, not exactly. We know all the specs for the Galaxy A91, but we have also been told that the same specs will also be seen on the Galaxy S10 Lite. And that is slowly but surely being proven to be correct as new bits and pieces about the Galaxy S10 Lite show up online. Last week, a benchmark entry confirmed the S10 Lite will have a Snapdragon 855, 8GB of RAM, and Android 10 like the A91, and now, a 4,500 mAh battery for the device has been confirmed as well.

Brazilian certification authority ANATEL recently published information on a device with model number SM-G770F, which is expected to be the Galaxy S10 Lite. The SM-G770F has a 4,370 mAh battery; that’s likely the rated battery capacity, and going by how Samsung has been putting the typical battery capacity on its devices’ spec sheets, the S10 Lite should be marketed with a 4,500 mAh battery. The Galaxy Note 10+, for instance, has a rated battery capacity of 4,170 mAh and a typical capacity of 4,300 mAh.

With a 4,500 mAh battery, the Galaxy S10 Lite will have a battery larger than the Galaxy S10+’s and equal to the Galaxy S10 5G. However, it remains to be seen if it will also support 45W fast charging. The Galaxy A91 will, as we had exclusively revealed, and we can only hope Samsung will not make any changes to the specs when rebranding the A91 as the Galaxy S10 Lite. It probably won’t, but until we see concrete evidence, it’s impossible to be sure.

The post Galaxy S10 Lite’s 4,500 mAh battery confirmed appeared first on SamMobile.

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