This is the Galaxy Watch 3!

Samsung is preparing for the launch of the Galaxy Watch 3. The smartwatch appeared in FCC’s database last month, revealing its rear cover design and some key specifications. We had exclusively leaked specifications of the Galaxy Watch 3 yesterday. Now, we have our first look at the design of the Galaxy Watch 3, thanks to the live images that were uploaded on the South Korean regulatory agency’s website.

The 41mm and 45mm variants of the Galaxy Watch 3 have been certified by South Korea’s NRRA certification authority. As you can see in the live images below, the watch has a physical rotating bezel, just like its predecessor, the Galaxy Watch. However, the bezels seem thinner in comparison; no wonder Samsung has been able to cram in bigger screens in relatively smaller cases. The upcoming smartwatch also has two physical buttons on the right side, similar to earlier Galaxy smartwatches, but there’s a change in their shapes.

Galaxy Watch 3 specs

The Galaxy Watch 3 will be released in 1.2-inch and 1.4-inch screen sizes. These two variants will measure 45 x 46.2 x 11.1 mm and 41 x 42.5 x 11.3 mm, respectively. Both variants will feature MIL-STD-810G designs and IP68 certification for dust and water resistance. They will come in stainless steel and titanium variants. Samsung’s upcoming smartwatch will have Corning’s Gorilla Glass DX protection. The smartwatch will have 1GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage.

In terms of sensors, the Galaxy Watch 3 will have a heart rate monitor with eight pulse-reading photodiodes, blood pressure monitoring, and ECG. It will likely have an accelerometer, barometer, and gyroscope as well. The 41mm variant of the watch will be powered by a 247mAh battery, while the 45mm variant will come packed with a 340mAh battery. It will run Tizen OS 5.5 out of the box. Samsung might unveil the watch in July, ahead of the Galaxy Note 20 series launch in August.

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Samsung India offering sizeable discount on Galaxy Note 10 Lite

Samsung had launched the Galaxy Note 10 Lite in India five months ago with a starting price of INR 38,999 for the variant with 6GB RAM. The 8GB RAM variant of the phone debuted at INR 40,990 in the country. Now, the company is offering a sizeable discount on both 6GB RAM and 8GB RAM variants of the Galaxy Note 10 Lite in India.

If you purchase the Galaxy Note 10 Lite in India via Amazon.in, you can get an instant cashback of INR 5,000 if the purchase is made using a Citibank credit or debit card. So, if you decide to buy the 6GB RAM variant of the phone, it would set you back by INR 34,999. The 8GB RAM variant of the Galaxy Note 10 Lite can be purchased for INR 36,999 if you factor in the cashback. Please note that Samsung had to increase the prices of its smartphones, including the Galaxy Note 10 Lite, after the Indian government’s decision to jack up taxes (GST) on smartphones.

The Galaxy Note 10 Lite features a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-O display with Full HD+ resolution, in-display fingerprint reader, and HDR10+. The phone runs Android 10 with One UI 2.1 and is equipped with the Exynos 9810 processor. The Galaxy Note 10 Lite has 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a microSD card slot.

It features a 32MP selfie camera and a 12MP+12MP+12MP triple rear-facing camera. The phone can record 4K 60fps videos using both front and rear cameras. It has an S Pen, GPS, dual-SIM card slot, LTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack. The Galaxy Note 10 Lite uses a 4,500mAh battery, which is compatible with 25W fast charging.

Galaxy Note 10 Lite Review

• Buy Galaxy Note 10 Lite (6GB RAM) from Amazon.in
• Buy Galaxy Note 10 Lite (8GB RAM) from Amazon.in

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Samsung to set up smartphone display plant in India, get tax incentives

Samsung Display, Samsung’s display manufacturing arm, had signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year to set up a smartphone display plant in India. The country’s leading investment promotion body, India Invest, has mentioned in a letter that the South Korean firm plans to invest up to $705.75 million to set up the facility in Uttar Pradesh, India.

The world’s largest smartphone OLED panel maker expects to create around 1,300 jobs with the new plant. Samsung is planning to begin operations at the upcoming plant in the city of Noida in 2021. A source familiar with the matter said that the South Korean display panel maker would relocate some of the manufacturing done in China to India if plans of the new plant take shape. Samsung also operates its largest smartphone plant in the world in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Samsung will get tax and other incentives from the Indian government for setting up the display plant. India Invest, the promotion body, sent the letter to Uttar Pradesh’s government in April. However, Reuters couldn’t confirm if India Invest discussed the letter with the South Korean firm. Samsung could benefit from higher capital incentives on investment over a 20-year period.

Satish Mahana, the industrial minister for the state of Uttar Pradesh, said that incentives were under discussion and that no decision has been taken yet. India is competing with the likes of Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam to attract large industries such as smartphone brands under its Make in India drive. Similar to other countries, India is offering tax incentives on capital expenditure. Samsung could also save on import taxes that India plans to levy.

Samsung Display currently has three OLED plants in China, nine plants in South Korea, and one plant in Vietnam. The company has already announced that it is exiting the LCD display business by the end of 2020 to focus on OLED and QLED technologies.

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Samsung India announces range of JBL Quantum headphones for gamers

JBL is making history today as the company is launching its first-ever range of gamer headsets in India. The JBL Quantum range includes a total of seven headphone models, each at different price points, but they all share the JBL QuantumSOUND Signature and they’re all compatible with multiple platforms including PC, Mac, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, VR, and mobile.

Samsung made the latest announcement and revealed the prices for every new JBL Quantum model for India. Most of SamMobile’s readers are likely aware of this but in case you’re wondering, JBL is owned by Harman International Industries and, in turn, Harman is a Samsung Electronics subsidiary. Therefore, it wasn’t unusual at all for Samsung India to announce the new range of JBL headphones through its own channels.

JBL Quantum range for gamers starting at $52 and going all the way up to $400

JBL’s Quantum series consists of the Quantum 100, Quantum 200, 300, 400, 600, 800, and last but not least, the JBL Quantum ONE. The latter is the top of the range and it will cost INR 29,999 ($392). The JBL Quantum ONE has a wired, over-ear design and boasts features like ANC (active noise cancellation), game-chat balance, DTS 2.0, JBL QuantumSPHERE 360, and it’s the only model in the range to take advantage of an integrated head-tracking sensor.

The only other JBL Quantum model with ANC is the Quantum 800. It will launch for INR 22,999 ($300) and it has the same features as the JBL Quantum ONE, save for the head-tracking sensor and QuantumSPHERE 360.

At the opposite end of the spectrum you will find the JBL Quantum 100 for INR 3,999 ($52). This model lacks ANC, DTS 2.0, and other JBL-specific sound features. You can refer to the list below for more specs and price details for every one the new JBL Quantum headphones launching in India. Exact release dates have not yet been revealed but the headphones should be sold by JBLQuantum.com soon.

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Microsoft USA offers the Galaxy S20 5G series at discounts of up to $300

Microsoft’s online store has had a couple of killer Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Watch Active 2 deals over the past few weeks, but now the company has prepared discounts for Samsung’s latest flagship series that was introduced earlier this year, namely the Galaxy S20 5G.

Microsoft customers in the USA can now save up to $300 on a brand new, unlocked Galaxy S20 5G, Galaxy S20+ 5G, or Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. The discounts actually vary from $200 to $250 and $300 depending on the flagship model as well as its exterior color.

As such, customers can save $200 when buying the Galaxy S20 5G in blue or pink, or they can save $250 if they pick the flagship in Cosmic Gray. Similarly, the black Galaxy S20+ 5G costs $300 less, whereas the same device in gray and blue benefits from discounts of $250 and $200, respectively. The list below includes discounts for every available Galaxy S20 configuration available at a discount on Microsoft’s store, so feel free to refer to it below and check the links for more details.

• Cosmic Gray Galaxy S20 ($250 off)
• Cloud Blue Galaxy S20 ($200 off)
• Cloud Pink Galaxy S20 ($200 off)
• 128GB Cosmic Gray Galaxy S20+ ($250 off)
• 128GB Cloud Blue Galaxy S20+ ($200 off)
• 128GB Cosmic Black Galaxy S20+ ($300 off)
• 512GB Cosmic Black Galaxy S20+ ($200 off)
• 128GB/512GB Cosmic Gray/Cosmic Black Galaxy S20 Ultra ($250 off)

Galaxy S20+ review | Galaxy S20 Ultra review

• Buy the unlocked Galaxy S20 5G / S20+ 5G / S20 Ultra 5G from Microsoft USA

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Galaxy Fold 2 has two batteries with a combined capacity of 4,365mAh

Samsung’s second foldable smartphone-tablet hybrid, the Galaxy Fold 2, will conceal a battery configuration similar to the original Galaxy Fold. The sequel will be powered by two separate batteries with a combined capacity of 4,365mAh, down from the original Galaxy Fold’s 4,380mAh.

According to a couple of screenshots passed along on Twitter by @_the_tech_guy depicting regulatory documents, the Galaxy Fold 2 features a 2,275mAh main battery coupled with a 2,090mAh secondary unit. In contrast, the original Galaxy Fold combined a 2,135mAh battery with a 2,245mAh one.

Will battery life be the same on the Galaxy Fold 2?

The original Galaxy Fold isn’t a perfect device, but as detailed in our review, it doesn’t suffer from bad battery life despite the phone’s crazy specifications such as its two displays and six cameras. The Galaxy Fold’s dual-battery system with a combined capacity of 4,380mAh – or 4,235mAh in the case of the Galaxy Fold 5G – serve it well, but will this remain true for the Galaxy Fold 2 and its 4,365mAh unit?

The Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to have similar dimensions to the OG model, so it makes sense for it to lack the necessary physical space to accomodate a much larger battery. In practice, the ~15mAh discrepancy between the existing and the upcoming model won’t make a noticeable difference at all, so the only way for the Galaxy Fold 2 to achieve better battery life is to leverage better optimization and a more power-efficient chipset. Furthermore, the Galaxy Fold 2 could be using LTPO backplane technology for its display, and this alone can contribute to 15%-20% better energy management.

On one hand, these advancements put together should lead to better autonomy, but on the other, the Galaxy Fold 2’s cover display is also expected to be considerably larger. Having said that, it’s too early to determine exactly how the Galaxy Fold 2 will perform, so we’ll have to wait for Samsung to release the device in August-September, after which we’ll finally be able to compare battery life between the old and the new.

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LTPO display tech for Galaxy Note 20+ to be called ‘HOP’

The cutting-edge LTPO display technology that will allow (parts of) the Galaxy Note 20 series to offer variable refresh rates in an extremely energy-efficient manner will be called “HOP”, sources close to the company claim. The moniker is said to be derived from the names of hybrid oxide and polycrystalline silicon, two materials key for Samsung’s seminal thin-film transistor (TFT) backplane. Conceptually, HOP will be significant for being the first smartphone application of LTPO TFT backplanes. But the same tech was already commercialized in the smartwatch segment by Apple and Samsung itself, i.e. the Apple Watch 4 and last year’s Galaxy Watch Active 2.

Apple is actually the owner of the original LTPO patent, meaning Samsung will have to pay royalties on its expanded usage. While LG manufactured the LTPO TFT panel used by the 2018 Apple Watch 4, once this tech makes its way to iPhones in 2021, it will be produced by Samsung, as per the same report.

Hop on the Galaxy Note 20 hype train

Short for “low-temperature polycrystalline silicon”, LTPO is a type of display backplane tech that can dynamically change a compatible TFT panel’s refresh rate. That, in effect, serves as a base for some rather impressive energy savings, especially in the context of something like the Galaxy Note 20 family and its always-on displays. More specifically, it’s said to be up to 20% more efficient than LTPS backplanes that preceded it. The Galaxy Note 20 series still won’t completely ditch the latter, with sources previously claiming only the Galaxy Note 20+ will adopt the new LTPO TFT platform, i.e. HOP.

On the other hand, the regular Galaxy Note 20 is also rumored to miss out on the 120Hz refresh rate, so its battery life shouldn’t be noticeably worse in real-world applications. The highly anticipated smartphone series is expected to launch on August 5th, so it should be available for purchase in most parts of the world by early September.

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Samsung Germany unveils HDD-to-SSD upgrade and data transfer service

The death of the HDD at the hands of the SSD has been a long time coming. It’s been sung for many years, and now, hot on heels of the Sony PlayStation 5 announcement, it looks like SSDs might finally be getting affordable enough to replace the old HDD solution in most situations, at least when data centers aren’t involved. Samsung is seemingly gearing up for this shift and it has launched a new service in Germany called the Samsung SSD Upgrade Service.

Samsung Germany’s newly-unveiled Solid State Drive Upgrade Partner program allows retail partners in Germany, including MediaMarkt and Saturn, to offer HDD-to-SSD replacement and data transfer services to customers who want to upgrade their computers to the newer storage medium. The costs of upgrading and data transferring at one of these services hasn’t been mentioned, but it sounds like customers can supply their own SSDs as long as they’re Samsung-branded.

Samsung Electronics’ Head of Product Marketing Storage, Susanne Hoffmann, reminds customer in Germany that they don’t have to spend a fortune to upgrade from an HDD to an SSD. The Samsung 860 QVO is a relatively-affordable SSD, costing 109.90 euros for 1TB of storage. Samsung is also developing new PICe Gen-4 SSDs with up to 8TB of storage, and it may even release an 8TB 970 QVO SSD as early as next month, therefore driving the costs of the lower-capacity SSD solutions down even further.

Are you ready to abandon HDDs on your personal computer, or have you already made the switch to SSDs? Would you like to use Samsung’s SSD Upgrade Service to get the newer storage medium and transfer your data hassle-free? Check out Samsung Germany’s dedicated page and search for a partner near you. We’ll keep you posted if Samsung decides to introduce the SSD Upgrade Service to other markets outside of Germany.

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Ex-Samsung exec cites ‘friendship’ for joining Chinese rival – then quits

In a textbook example of bad timing, former Samsung China CEO decided to join one of his ex-employer’s top Chinese rivals just as those very same competitors were facing increased scrutiny over trade secret theft allegations. A company veteran of 30 years, Jang Won-ki helmed Samsung’s operations in China from 2011 to 2017, following a two-year stint at the helm of its LCD business. Last week, he joined Beijing Eswin Computing Technology, one of Samsung Display’s top competitors in the panel manufacturing space.

In a subsequent newspaper interview, Jang said he was merely brought on to advise and wouldn’t be leading Eswin’s R&D efforts, thus concluding Samsung’s trade secrets were perfectly safe with him. A semiconductor engineer by trade, the 66-year-old further added he primarily joined Eswin due to his friendship with founder Wang Dongsheng, who is also the founder of BOE Technology Group.

Public outcry forces his resignation

None of that stopped the public outrcry over the move in South Korea, which ultimately prompted Jang to quit, local media reported earlier reported. Sources close to the former Samsung exec claim he categorized the controversy as a large misunderstanding and hopes his resignation will help smooth things over. He was originally given the position of Eswin Vice Chairman and is the shortest-tenured executive in the company’s history following this episode.

South Korea’s crackdown on Chinese trade secret theft has been intensifying in recent years, especially as many consumer electronics segments are now suffering from extreme saturation. Even Samsung’s relations with traditionally much friendlier American companies are currently… complicated, to put it mildly. Ultimately, expect more drama over executive poaching and corporate espionage allegations to emerge from the Far East in the near future.

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Samsung accused of favoring online sales over offline retailers in India

India is one of the few markets where the offline retail channel still reigns supreme, even as a large part of the population has embraced e-commerce. It’s also a highly competitive smartphone market and brands that compete there have to strike a balance between their online and offline sales strategies.

However, retailers in India have started to feel that Samsung is now favoring online sales over those from its brick-and-mortar partners. They say that Samsung isn’t maintaining price parity of select devices, particularly the M series, to increase online sales as that wouldn’t require Samsung to give margins to offline retailers.

Retailers in India are not happy with Samsung

Mobile retailers in India accuse Samsung of selling its mid-range devices for cheaper online so that customers prefer buying from online channels. It provides a margin to offline retailers and that obviously eats into the company’s profitability. Cutting costs here would enable Samsung to increase profitability.

Samsung isn’t the only one that’s doing this in India. The retailers say that they didn’t receive new stocks from smartphone manufacturers for up to 25 days after the online launch this past month, and when they did get the stock, it just wasn’t enough to meet demand. This meant that customers were essentially forced to purchase the phones online.

The All India Mobile Retailer Association has also raised the issue of price disparity between online and offline channels with Samsung. “We have already written to you regarding the preference of stocks in offline trade, especially during times of COVID-19 when retailers have suffered immense losses due to the lockdown. Samsung must rethink and maintain the same price for both channels,” the association wrote in a letter to the company.

Samsung has ramped up its online sales efforts in India over the past few months, particularly after the COVID19 lockdown. For example, it now offers finance options at customers’ doorstep. It has also been helping out its offline retailers during these difficult times.

Samsung India brought 20,000 retailers online so that they could sell devices to customers in their locality. The company later expanded this program to cover consumer electronics retailers as well.

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Samsung has apparently decided to kill the Galaxy M41

It was first reported a couple of months ago that Samsung had the Galaxy M41 in development. This handset would have been the sequel to the Galaxy M40 that was released last year. However, an interesting rumor has floated about the upcoming device.

The OLED panels in Samsung’s smartphones are supplied by Samsung Display. It was said that the Galaxy M41 would be the first Samsung smartphone with an OLED panel sourced from a third-party. TCL’s China Star Optoelectronics Technology was believed to be supplying panels for this device. Samsung has now reportedly given up on the idea and has thus decided to discontinue the development of the Galaxy M41.

Galaxy M41 discontinued in favor of the Galaxy M51

According to a report out of South Korea, Samsung has stopped work on the Galaxy M41 which was slated to use an OLED display panel from China Star Optoelectronics Technology. The report goes on to mention that the company has decided to release the Galaxy M51 instead.

We exclusively reported last month that the Galaxy M51 is now in development. Details about its specs are limited right now but we suspect that it’s going basically going to be a rebranded Galaxy A51 with a few design and hardware changes. This device will follow the same strategy as the Galaxy M30s which shared many of its internals with the Galaxy A50s.

Samsung considered Chinese panels for the Galaxy M51 as well but they were unable to meet the quality requirements which is why the panels will be sourced from Samsung Display. Recent reports have suggested that Samsung is looking to source Chinese panels for its smartphones as it wants to reduce costs.

This was said to be a possibility for the Galaxy S21 as well but Samsung is already believed to have given up on that idea as BOE’s panels weren’t as good as the ones from Samsung Display.

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Samsung launches new smart TVs, including The Frame 2020, in India

Samsung has announced that it is launching its new smart TVs, including the 2020 version of The Frame TV, in India. The new smart TV lineup will be available in the country through Amazon.in, Flipkart, and Samsung’s online store, starting the midnight of June 19. Samsung had launched The Frame TV and the rest of its smart TV 2020 lineup in other markets, including Australia, Europe, South Korea, and the US a few weeks ago.

The Frame 2020 will be available exclusively through Flipkart, while the rest of the company’s smart TV lineup will also be available for purchase through Amazon. Consumers who buy The Frame TV from Flipkart during the first 48 hours of the first start would be eligible for an instant discount of up to INR 1,500 if the transactions are prepaid. Amazon consumers would get an instant cashback of up to INR 1,000 when purchases are made using SBI credit cards. Samsung is also offering no-cost EMIs on all its new smart TVs through Amazon, Flipkart, and Samsung’s website.

The company’s latest edition of The Frame TV is priced at INR 74,990, INR 84,990, and INR 139,990 for 50-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch versions, respectively. The TV comes with a 10-year warranty against screen burn-in, a one-year comprehensive warranty, and a two-year screen panel warranty.

The HD-ready and Full HD TV models are available in 32-inch and 43-inch sizes, while 4K TVs are available in 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch versions. The HD ready and Full HD models start from INR 14,490 for the 32-inch version and go up to INR 31,990 for the 43-inch version. Samsung’s new 4K TVs start from INR 36,990 for the 43-inch size and go as high as INR 89,990 for the 65-inch version.

Samsung’s new smart TVs are designed with young millennials in mind and for those who stream a lot of content online. Most of the TVs in the new lineup include all the popular music and video streaming apps and features such as Auto Hotspot, Content Guide, Game Enhancer, Home Cloud, Music Player, Personal Computer Mode, and USB 3.0 port. They also come with AI-powered digital voice assistants Alexa, Bixby, and Google Assistant.

The South Korean firm’s new smart TVs come with a free subscription to Office 365 and 5GB of free cloud storage space. They also have popular video streaming apps, including Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Jio Cinema, Netflix, Sony LIV, Voot, Voot Kids, YouTube, YouTube Kids, and ZEE5. Those who purchase these TVs would also get up to 50% discount on Eros Now and ZEE5, a one-year free subscription to Gaana+, three months of subscription to Apple Music. The Frame 2020 TV also comes with a three-month subscription (worth INR 897) of Samsung Art Store for free.

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Exclusive: Come check out the Galaxy Watch 3’s specifications

The Galaxy Watch 3 is coming soon. We recently revealed that Samsung will be launching its new smartwatch and wireless earbuds in July, ahead of the August 5 Unpacked launch of the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2. Now, we have gotten hold of the spec sheet for Samsung’s upcoming smartwatch.

Galaxy Watch 3 specs include 1.2-inch and 1.4-inch displays

A lot is already known about the Galaxy Watch 3, plenty of which was revealed exclusively by us here at SamMobile. The watch is going to come in 41mm and 45mm sizes, have both stainless steel and titanium variants, sport 8GB of internal storage, support LTE and GPS connectivity, and have the usual IP68 water (up to 50 metres in depth for 10 minutes) resistance and MIL-STD-810G design. The physical rotating bezel is making a return, following its absence on the Galaxy Watch Active and Galaxy Watch Active 2 last year.

We can now reveal some of the other specs as well, including the screen sizes and dimensions. The 41mm Galaxy Watch 3 will have a 1.2-inch display and the 45mm version will sport a 1.4-inch display; the two variants will measure 45 x 46.2 x 11.1 mm and 41 x 42.5 x 11.3 mm respectively. The displays are 0.1 inches bigger than the screens on the Galaxy Watch despite smaller overall dimensions of the Watch 3, so we can only surmise that the rotating bezel will not be as thick as before. The displays will be covered by Corning’s Gorilla Glass DX, as revealed by the FCC.

ECG, blood pressure monitoring is on-board

Of course, no smartwatch is complete without health sensors. The Galaxy Watch 3 is going to be pretty much the same as the Galaxy Watch Active 2 in this department: It has a heart rate monitor with 8 pulse-reading photodiodes and support for blood pressure monitoring, and an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor. Only time will tell whether or not ECG functionality will be available globally at launch. Samsung recently got approval for enabling the Galaxy Watch Active 2’s ECG feature in Korea, and we can only hope the company will get the necessary approvals in other countries by the time the Galaxy Watch 3 hits retail shelves.

Battery capacities on the Galaxy Watch 3 are going to be smaller than those on the Galaxy Watch: The 41mm and 45mm variants have a 340 mAh and 247 mAh battery respectively. These are exactly the same as the batteries inside the Galaxy Watch Active 2 so battery life shouldn’t be an issue, at least on the larger model. We’re also told the new smartwatch will have 1GB of RAM on both variants and run Tizen OS 5.5 out of the box. While there’s no word on what new software features will be present on the Galaxy Watch 3, we can expect them to make their way to existing Galaxy smartwatches with software updates.

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Samsung’s Lee Jae-Yong holds meetings with key executives after dodging arrest

In the ongoing probe against Lee Jae-Yong, Samsung Group’s Vice President, the South Korean court had rejected an arrest warrant last week. Since then, the company’s heir has reportedly held important meetings with key executives from Samsung’s smartphone and semiconductor business arms.

According to reports coming out of South Korea, Lee Jae-Yong met with Kim Ki-Nam and HK Park, who are the CEO and the CFO of Samsung Device Solutions (SDS), respectively. He also met with Jin Gyo-Young, President of Samsung’s memory business, ES Jung, President of Samsung Foundry, and In-Yup Kang, President of Samsung System LSI. Samsung’s heir discussed the investment strategy going forward and the current state of the global semiconductor industry.

Lee also reportedly discussed the roadmap for the company’s 5nm semiconductor process and the upcoming GAA (Gate All Around) technology that is being worked upon by the foundry business. Lee seems to have also discussed the impact of the ongoing China-US trade war on its businesses. It was recently reported that Samsung will supply low-end and mid-range 5G modems for Huawei phones but has taken a decision against making smartphone chips for the Chinese brand.

Samsung’s VP also discussed earnings from the smartphone business for the first half of 2020. He met with Samsung Mobile’s Roh Tae-moon (President), Yunho Choi (CFO), Choi Kyung-Sik (Senior VP of marketing), Kyung-jun Kim (Head of Development), and Kim Sung-Jin (Director of Support Team). This is the first time that Lee has finished all the key meetings within a day.

During his visit to the company’s Xi’an memory plant in China, he had mentioned that the company has no time and that the firm must be prepared for big changes for future growth. It is being reported that there’s a chance of Lee Jae-Yong getting arrested in the controversial merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. However, Samsung Group has denied all corruption charges against Lee.

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Samsung might not make smartphone chips for Huawei

The trade ban on Huawei by the US has affected the Chinese firm’s business in a lot of ways. The company can no longer sell smartphones with Google services and it has been barred from selling telecom equipment to network carriers in several countries. This is great news for Samsung’s smartphone and network equipment business arms, but it also means a chance for the company’s foundry and semiconductor arms to improve their businesses by selling chips to Huawei.

Huawei was recently cut off from TSMC’s chip supply following the trade ban and it was reported that Huawei might turn to Samsung for smartphone chip manufacturing. The South Korean firm has already been supplying OLED panels and memory chips to Huawei. However, it is being reported that Samsung might not make smartphone chips for Huawei, and we don’t know the reason behind this decision. So, the Chinese company might have to turn to the likes of MediaTek and Spreadtrum for chips.

Samsung’s decision could be bad news for Huawei

Huawei’s Kirin chips are usually pretty competitive in terms of features, performance, and power efficiency when compared to Exynos and Snapdragon mobile processors. While Huawei designs its own chips, it is a fabless firm, which means that it doesn’t have its own foundry to make Kirin chipsets. So, it has to depend on the likes of TSMC and Samsung for manufacturing Kirin SoCs.

The Chinese firm is already cut off from TSMC’s supply of chips. If Samsung doesn’t make chips for Huawei, the Chinese firm would have to either use older manufacturing processes or buy processors from MediaTek or Spreadtrum. Either way, it means that we would see slower and less power-efficient chips in Huawei phones, which is a bad sign for the company. Samsung might still supply low-end and mid-range 5G modems to Huawei in the future.

While the Chinese government has initiated a plan to bolster local industries and asked foundries to develop newer technologies to reduce the reliance on outside firms, they are not yet ready to make chips based on advanced processes such as 5nm and 7nm. It would take years for Chinese firms to compete with TSMC and Samsung in the foundry space.

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