Galaxy Chromebook gets an LTE variant and a release date

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Chromebook last month, and it is the best Chromebook we’ve ever seen. The company had earlier mentioned that the laptop would be available in Q1 of this year. However, it looks like the availability might be delayed by a bit.

Best Buy has now listed the Galaxy Chromebook on its website, and the advertised release date is April 6, which is a week or two from the original release timeframe. However, there’s a possibility of Samsung selling the laptop through its own website a week ahead of Best Buy. The South Korean firm now has a dedicated webpage for the Galaxy Chromebook, and it lists LTE as one of its features, something that wasn’t revealed during the unveiling last month.

Galaxy Chromebook – A rundown of specifications

The Galaxy Chromebook is a convertible laptop with a flip-and-fold design. It features a 13.3-inch 4K Super AMOLED touchscreen with a thin 3.4mm frame on three sides. It also comes with an S Pen for drawing and jotting down notes. It runs Chrome OS and is equipped with a 10th Gen. Intel Core i5 (10210U) processor, 8GB/16GB RAM, and 256GB/1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. There’s a microSD/UFS combo card slot for storage expansion and a backlit keyboard.

Samsung’s latest Chromebook also features LTE, Wi-Fi 6 (also known as Wi-Fi ax), two USB Type-C ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It weighs 1.03kg and has 2W stereo speakers, dual-array microphones, 1MP webcam, and an 8MP rear-facing camera (in flip mode). The laptop will get the DisplayHDR400 certification and HDR10 video playback via a software update. With a 49.2Wh battery, it can last up to 9 hours on a single charge.

The Galaxy Chromebook will be available in two colors: Fiesta Red and Mercury Gray. Samsung built this Chromebook in partnership with Intel to pass the Project Athena innovation program.

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Samsung might change the way the Galaxy S20 handles its 120Hz screen

Samsung is reportedly working on changing the way that the Galaxy S20 flagships utilize their new 120Hz-capable displays. As you’re probably aware, the Galaxy S20 lineup’s screens can run at 60Hz or 120Hz, but there are some caveats. Firstly, the high-refresh 120Hz mode is not available for the highest WQHD+ resolution. Secondly, the 120Hz mode is not forced, per se, meaning that the phones can switch back to 60Hz automatically in certain situations, either to prevent overheating or to improve battery life.

Now, according to a couple of rumors passed along via Twitter, Samsung is working on improving its high refresh rate screens in two ways. The company is reportedly already working on allowing the 120Hz mode on WQHD+ resolution, and according to @MaxWinebach, Samsung could implement this mode through a firmware update over the next 1-3 months ‘if all goes well.’

As for the second rumor via @UniverseIce, it comes in the form of an alleged leaked screenshot captured from one of the firmware versions of the Galaxy S20 series. It depicts a different screen refresh rate menu which includes three options instead of two. The existing ‘High refresh rate’ appears to have been renamed to ‘Dynamic’ to better-reflect how the mode works, while a new ‘High’ option would presumably lock the screen at 120Hz.

It’s unclear whether this mysterious firmware is a pre-release version or a newer one currently in development. There’s not enough evidence to support the idea that this is an upcoming feature. Given the lack of information, it could very well be a vestigial feature that has been removed on later firmware versions.

The takeaway

Because quite a few enthusiasts are very vocal about wanting 120Hz on WQHD+ resolution, these rumors may very well turn out to be correct. I don’t think there are too many users who would give up battery life while increasing thermals just for the sake of using 120Hz on WQHD+ instead of FHD+ resolution, but maybe Samsung has more optimizations in mind and it will give these fans the option to go ‘overkill mode’ if they so desire.

Samsung is no stranger to the process of adding features to brand new flagships via firmware updates. Perhaps the company is working on implementing at least one of these changes later down the line. It wouldn’t be outlandish for Samsung to add new features in this manner. Keep in mind that the dedicated Night mode was missing from the Galaxy S10 series at launch, but was added through a firmware update a few weeks after the phones went on sale.

We’ll keep our ear to the ground and let you know if we find any concrete details on the matter at hand. Until then, you probably know the drill when it comes to unconfirmed claims: keep a proverbial pinch of salt nearby and a don’t make plans based solely on preliminary rumors.

Samsung is working on optimizing software for WQHD+ 120hz on the S20 series and should release it in the next 1-3 months if all goes well.

— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) February 18, 2020

This is one of the firmware versions of the Galaxy S20 series. We see that not only the WQHD + 120Hz mode can be selected, but also the dynamic mode, which is a very mature solution.better than limited to FHD
let's expect Samsung to implement such a solution as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/mLtFUwH0WZ

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) February 18, 2020

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Samsung sold nearly twice as many QLED TVs as LG did OLEDs in 2019

Samsung Electronics was the largest TV vendor in 2019, marking the 14th consecutive year for the company to lead the segment. That’s nearly one and a half decades of market dominance, and last year the company maintained its top spot largely thanks to strong QLED TV sales.

Samsung had the most global TV shipments out of all the vendors, covering 19.8% of the market throughout 2019, according to Yonhap News citing IHS Markit. Of course, shipments are one thing and sales are another, but Samsung was the leading brand in TV sales as well. The company covered no less than 30.9% of global TV sales revenues last year, up by 1.9% from a year earlier.

Samsung sold nearly twice as many QLED TVs as LG did OLEDs

QLED TVs are increasing in popularity and 12.1% of all the QLED TVs sold throughout 2019 were manufactured by Samsung. In contrast, the company covered just 6.3% of the QLED TV segment in 2018.

The global QLED TV market registered 6 million sales throughout 2019, and most impressively, 5.32 million out of that total were QLED TVs made by Samsung. The company doubled its sales year-on-year and the data shows that Samsung sold nearly twice as many QLED TVs in 2019 as LG did OLEDs.

Samsung and LG have been rivaling over the TV market for some time now, and last year it got to the point where Samsung was directly attacking LG’s OLED displays in its marketing campaigns. This rivalry is likely to continue this year as well.

Samsung strives to make its products more attractive and at CES 2020, the company unveiled its first truly bezel-less QLED TV with an impressive 99% screen-to-body ratio. Meanwhile, Samsung has worked closely with TÜV Rheinland to obtain certificates for reduced fire risk for its 2020 QLED 65 and QLED 75 models.

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Daily Deal: 23% off Berennis 3-pack Smart LED light bulb

If you’re looking to automate your home through IoT devices, then perhaps one of the best places to start with is your home lighting. Smart light bulbs like those manufactured by BERENNIS offer millions of colors to choose from, they work with smart assistants, and you can control them with ease from the phone app over a Wi-Fi network. Alternatively, you can automate these smart light bulbs to turn on or off according to your schedule. Sounds good? It gets better, as prospective buyers can now purchase a 3-pack of BERENNIS smart light bulbs at a 23% discount.

Hit the Buy Now button below to get it while still available!

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Android Auto Wireless works with Galaxy S20, Flip, possibly other models

Google has officially added Android Auto Wireless support for the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy Z Flip. Nearly every flagship phone released by Samsung over the past couple of years has received Android Auto Wireless support about half a year ago, and now Google has added other Samsung devices (incl. Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip) to the mix.

Google doesn’t outright spell the names of Samsung’s latest three flagship phones, and it is logical to assume that Android Auto Wireless has been made available across the board. Then again, half a year ago the Galaxy S10 and S10+ got support for the feature while the Galaxy S10e did not. It’s unclear why that happened but we’re hoping that history won’t repeat itself with the Galaxy S20 series and that the base model hasn’t been omitted.

Could support be added to more Galaxy phones running Android 10?

Interestingly enough, Google’s latest additions to its list of compatible phones suggest that ‘other Samsung devices’ aside from the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip may have received Android Auto Wireless support, at least as long as they run Android 10 or higher. Could it be that additional devices launched with Android 10 out of the box are now compatible with Android Auto Wireless? Perhaps, but we were unable to test this ourselves at the time of writing. It may be just a way for Google to say that support will be added to more Galaxy devices later down the line.

Whatever the case may be, Android Auto Wireless is now available on more Samsung devices than ever before, and we now know that Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip owners should have access to this feature from day one.

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Samsung makes big marketing push with Kpop super band BTS

Samsung has inked a new partnership with Kpop super band BTS to promote its new smartphones. BTS is a massive global entity in its own right with countless fans across the globe. This partnership will allow Samsung to reach out to a younger demographic which makes up a significant chunk of the BTS fan base.

As part of this collaboration, Samsung will first support the band’s global contemporary art initiative called CONNECT BTS, before expanding the partnership to other initiatives. It wouldn’t be surprising if BTS members start appearing in commercials for Samsung products.

Samsung teams up with BTS to promote its smartphones

Samsung has a history of leveraging the massive reach that Kpop bands have for marketing purposes. It most recently worked with another super band Blackpink for the launch of the Galaxy A80. Not only was the girl group retained to promote the device, Samsung even launched a Galaxy A80 Blackpink Edition in select markets.

Samsung has not detailed exactly what shape its marketing efforts with BTS will take but industry insiders expect the boy band to participate in Samsung’s promotion and marketing events for the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy S20 lineup. BTS member V was also spotted at Samsung’s Unpacked event for these devices in San Francisco.

BTS is perhaps the biggest and most globally recognized Kpop bands in history. Aligning its products with this band will enable Samsung to get its message out to a younger demographic across the globe.

“We hope we can deliver a good experience to fans of BTS and Galaxy devices around the globe through collaboration with BTS,” said a Samsung official, adding that “We are planning various activities other than ‘CONNECT BTS.'”

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Galaxy S20 launches in Vietnam with pre-order freebies in tow

Samsung Vietnam has announced the launch detail for the Galaxy S20 series and Galaxy Buds+ in the country. Unsurprisingly given Samsung’s global release details, the trio of flagship smartphones along with the new earbuds will ship to customers in Vietnam on March 6. But before that happens, prospective buyers can pre-order the products and take advantage of early adopter freebies.

Customers who will pre-order the Galaxy S20 in Vietnam before March 5 will receive a Clear View case for their device, whereas Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra pre-orders will be accompanied by free pairs of Galaxy Buds+.

The Galaxy Buds+ can also be purchased separately in white or black for the price of VDN 4,490,000, or the equivalent of around $192. Compared to the previous model, the new earbuds introduced at Unpacked boast an improved sound and longer battery life among other improvements.

As for the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra, you can click each of these individual links to read all about them in greater detail, at least until our more in-depth reviews with sample photos and all that good stuff will be ready. With specifications out of the way, prices in Vietnam are as follows: the Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra can now be pre-ordered for VDN 21,490,000 ($922), VDN 23,990,000 ($1,029), and VDN 29,990,000 ($1,286), respectively. Which one will you get? Join us in the comment section below.

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Galaxy A71 5G will use Samsung’s Exynos 980 processor

The Galaxy A71 was among the first of Samsung’s 2020 Galaxy A smartphones. It was unveiled alongside the Galaxy A51 in December 2019. We reported back then that Samsung also has a 5G variant of the Galaxy A71 in development.

Since then, we’ve found out that the Galaxy A71 5G may also be released in markets outside the United States and China. We know for sure know what processor this device will be packing under the hood, it’s going to be Samsung’s Exynos 980. The LTE variant of the Galaxy A71 features the Snapdragon 730.

Galaxy A71 5G uses Samsung’s first 5G integrated processor

Samsung made its Exynos 980 chip official six months ago. It’s the company’s first 5G integrated processor, in that the mobile processor has an integrated 5G modem. Previous solutions required a separate 5G modem to be hooked up to the processor.

Based on Samsung’s 8nm FinFET process technology, the Exynos 980 has an octacore processor with two 2.2GHz Cortex-A77 cores and six 1.80GHz Cortex-A55 cores. The integrated 5G modem is capable of handling 5G to 2G networks while also supporting gigabit downlink speeds in 4G LTE. It supports speeds of up to 2.55Gbps in sub-6-GHz 5G. The Exynos 980 also has support for the new Wi-Fi 6 standard.

The Galaxy A71 5G has made an appearance on Geekbench and there’s no doubt left now that it’s indeed going to use the Exynos 980. The chip is paired with 8GB of RAM, the same as the LTE variant. This 5G integrated processor will allow Samsung to offer support for the next-gen network on more affordable devices. Since Samsung is all in for 5G this year, it won’t be surprising if we see the Exynos 980 pop up in several other mid-range models throughout the course of this year.

A teaser posted online recently suggested that the Galaxy A71 5G may be released in the near future, at least in the United States, so we may not have to wait for too long before this device hits the market.

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Galaxy Note 9 starts receiving Android 10 update on Verizon’s network

Galaxy Note 9 (SM-N960U) users on Verizon’s network in the US have started receiving the Android 10 update with One UI 2.0. The update with the firmware version N960USQU3DTAA also brings the February 2020 Android security patch for the smartphone. There’s still no word on the size of the software update.

If you are a Galaxy Note 9 user on Verizon’s network, you should be able to see the update notification pop up on your device. You can also check for the update manually by visiting the Settings » Software update section in your device and then clicking the Check for updates button.

The official changelog for the update that is named ‘System Update 16’ is pretty barebones, and it just mentions Android 10.0 and updated user experience. However, we know that the One UI 2.0 update brings most of the features of Android 10, such as enhanced Dark Mode, new navigation gestures, better privacy and location controls, new emojis, improved Digital Wellbeing, and a native screen recorder.

You can know the differences between One UI 1.x and One UI 2.0 by reading our detailed article. The One UI 2.0 update for the Galaxy Note 9 was first released in the US for the carrier-locked variants on Comcast, Spectrum Mobile, US Cellular, and Xfinity Mobile networks. Later the AT&T version started receiving the update as well.

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Galaxy A71 launched in India, price and release date revealed

Samsung has launched the Galaxy A71 in India, three weeks after it announced the Galaxy A51 in the country. Only the 8GB RAM variant of the Galaxy A71 will be available in India, at least for now, and it is priced at Rs 29,999. The price of the phone was leaked earlier today.

The smartphone will go on sale in India starting February 24, and it will be available in three colors: Black, Blue, and Prism Crush Silver. The Galaxy A71 will be available across Samsung e-shop, Samsung Opera House, leading online retailers, and offline stores across India. The phone was unveiled two months ago and its teasers for the Indian market went live last month.

The Galaxy A71 features a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus Infinity-O display with Full HD+ resolution. It runs Android 10 with One UI 2.0 and is equipped with the Snapdragon 730 processor. The phone has 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage. There’s a dedicated microSD card slot, too. It is powered by a 4500mAh battery, and it supports 25W Super-Fast charging.

At the front, the Galaxy A71 has a 32MP selfie camera hidden inside the punch hole. At the rear, the phone features a quad-camera setup, consisting of a 64MP primary camera (f/1.8 aperture), a 12MP ultrawide-angle camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a 5MP depth sensor. There is an under-display optical fingerprint reader and Samsung Pay.

For the Indian market, the South Korean smartphone giant has implemented a few unique features under the ‘Make for India’ guise. The phone can neatly arrange important information extracted from messages such as offers, one-time passwords, and reminders in the form of cards. Other features include Smart Crop, multi-lingual typing, and finding information from within popular apps using Finder.

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