Samsung intros Neo QLED smart TVs and solar-powered remote controls

Samsung Electronics is ready to introduce a new generation of smart TVs for 2021. The new series is known as Neo QLED and two brand-new Neo QLED smart TV models labeled QN900A and QN90A have already been announced ahead of CES 2021. They combine a new light source – Quantum Mini LED – with a new Neo Quantum picture processor that was optimized specifically for Neo QLED.

The QN900A is an 8K smart TV boasting an Infinity One design with almost no bezels. The QN90A is a 4K model, and both take advantage of features such as Samsung Health, Super Ultrawide GameView, and Google Duo.

Quantum Mini LED technology features incredibly thin micro layers filled with LEDs that are one-fortieth the height of conventional LEDs. The technology allows for ultra-fine control of the LEDs and prevents blooming.

Samsung claims that Neo QLED increases the luminance scale to 12-bit with 4096 steps, resulting in dark areas being darker and bright areas obviously being brighter. In essence, Neo QLED TVs should offer a superior and more immersive HDR experience.

More accessibility features and a refreshed The Frame

In addition, the 2021 Neo QLED smart TV range introduces new accessibility features such as Caption Moving, Sign Language Zoom, and Multi-Output Audio. The company claims it’s committed to improving Voice Guide even further and continue developing new accessibility features powered by AI.

Samsung is also refreshing its lifestyle TV The Frame with a new, slimmer design. The 2021 model is half thinner compared to the previous model and it has new attachable bezel options in two different styles – modern and beveled – as well as five color options.

Samsung’s 2021 smart TVs come with a solar-powered remote

Samsung aims towards a sustainable future and the company will make efforts to reduce its carbon footprint in TV manufacturing and improve energy efficiency in 2021. The company’s 2021 lifestyle TVs be wrapped in Eco-packaging same as last year, but so will the new Neo QLED models.

Furthermore, every Samsung Smart TV sold in 2021 will now be accompanied by a solar-powered remote control that can be recharged via USB and by indoor or outdoor light.

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Samsung to be the sole LTPO OLED supplier for Apple’s iPhone 13 series

The majority of OLED displays used by Apple for the iPhone 12 series is being supplied by Samsung. One fourth of OLED panels used by the iPhone 12 lineup was reportedly supplied by LG, but the supply chain will look a little different later this year. A new report from the Korean media claims that the two most expensive iPhone 13 models will boast LTPO OLED technology supplied exclusively by Samsung Display.

It may be too early to be certain of this but the source claims that Apple will release a total of four iPhone 13 models later this year, two of which will boast LTPO OLED panels with a refresh rate of 120Hz. LG Display will remain an Apple supplier but because the company is not yet capable of churning out a high-enough quantity of LTPO OLED panels, Apple will depend entirely on Samsung to acquire displays for the two most powerful iPhone 13 variants.

Samsung Display is looking to rearrange its production lines

LG doesn’t seem to be able to supply Apple with LTPO OLED solutions earlier than 2022, but Samsung Display is reportedly already looking to increase its LTPO OLED production capacity in anticipation of the iPhone 13 series.

Samsung Display might convert part of its A3 line at the Asan plant for LTPO production. The line reportedly has a monthly production capacity of 105,000 sheets but the company might be changing the production line to deliver 60,000 LTPO OLED sheets per month.

In contrast, LG can only produce 5,000 LTPO sheets per month at its Paju plant, but to Apple’s relief, the company is installing additional equipment to increase its production capacity to 25,000 sheets per month by 2022. Samsung Display has the clear advantage over its neighboring rival, however, Apple will want to avoid relying on a single supplier, reason why even BOE was taken into consideration as a potential iPhone 12 OLED manufacturer last year before the deal fell through.

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Samsung is supporting over a dozen C-Lab Outside startups at CES 2021

Tech events are a great place for startups to get in the limelight and reveal their products, and the fact that every major tech event last year was held in a virtual environment hasn’t been beneficial at all for smaller companies who are trying to gain visibility. Luckily for more than a dozen startups fostered by Samsung’s C-Lab Outside program, the Korean tech giant is offering a helping hand to get them on the virtual stage at CES 2021.

Samsung Electronics will be showcasing both C-Lab Inside projects and C-Lab Outside startups at CES 2021. C-Lab Inside was founded in 2012 as the company’s incubation program designed to help Samsung employees bring unique and innovative ideas to life. On the other hand, C-Lab Outside was created in 2018 as a platform meant to accelerate the startup ecosystem in South Korea.

17 C-Lab Outside startups will attend CES 2021

Samsung will support 4 C-Lab Inside projects, including:

• EZCal: An automated TV picture quality calibration app.
• Air Pocket: A portable oxygen storage device.
• Scan & Dive: An IoT device for fabric classification and care recommendation.
• Food & Sommelier: A service designed to find the best food and wine pairings.

In addition to these C-Lab Inside projects, Samsung will also showcase a total of 17 C-Lab Outside startups at the upcoming trade show, and their areas of expertise are as varied as you can imagine. A few of their innovative concepts include a smart height and weight scale for children, a real-life avatar creation tool that leverages VR and AR, and an AI-powered fashion design creation tool.

These are only a handful of startups but there are many more. There’s even a fortune telling and mental care character-based conversational chatbot that will be showcased by Thingsflow, and a language learning platform that uses gaming as a learning tool.

CES 2021 is scheduled to take place from January 11 through January 14. You can refer to the list below for more details on the 17 C-Lab Outside startups featured by Samsung.

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Hide camera cutout setting disappears from Galaxy devices, likely forever

Have you been having trouble finding the ‘Hide camera cutout‘ setting on your Galaxy device lately? It would appear the development isn’t an accident and has already affected every Samsung smartphone that made the jump to One UI 3.0. As the company’s custom implementation of Android 11 does away with the feature in its entirety.

What’s more, GalaxyClub reports that Samsung even removed any and all references to the functionality from its user manuals. Just in case anyone hoped the ability to hide the unbecoming camera hole might return in the future.

Do people still dislike notches? Have they ever?

And to be frank, it’s likely that not many people find these cutouts to be such an eyesore in the first place. Because Samsung probably wouldn’t have dropped the functionality otherwise. This isn’t to say we should be celebrating the development. At the end of the day, the only losing side here are consumers whose options have just gotten slimmer.

But we could also opt for a more optimistic take on this feature removal: no matter how unpopular the ‘Hide camera cutout’ setting was, it’s safe to assume Samsung isn’t preparing to start celebrating its camera holes any more than it already is.

Instead, the company’s decision to retire the feature can be seen as yet another indication that its under-display camera technologies continue to inch closer toward market availability. Whether the first generation of invisible mobile cameras manages to clear some substantial quality bar remains to be seen, of course. But Samsung certainly won’t be content with simply continuing to put out its Infinity displays indefinitely.

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Samsung monthly updates: January 2021 patch has a bit of everything

The latest security update for contemporary Galaxy devices – dated January 1st, 2020 – is as varied as these monthly patches go. Several days after it started reaching select smartphones, the new firmware upgrade also got detailed in an official security bulletin from Samsung.

Not accounting for Google’s monthly Android security fixes, the update that’s now on its way to Galaxy devices also features nine of Samsung’s own interventions. One of which stars the Galaxy Note 20 series and is rather bizarre, to put it mildly.

How long until the January 2021 update reaches your phone?

Fortunately, none of the Galaxy-specific vulnerabilities that Samsung’s addressing this month have been rated as critical. Some could have been pretty far-reaching, however, based solely on how long they’ve gone unnoticed.

For example, the January 2021 patch includes a fix for a memory corruption exploit that abused one unprotected library protocol which has been around since Android 8.0 Oreo days, i.e. mid-2017.

Another curious thing about this soon-to-be-ex buffer overflow risk is the fact that it was brought to Samsung’s attention by an incognito source. Anonymous reports in the cybersecurity space aren’t exactly unheard of, but they’re pretty rare when it comes to those affecting countless devices from the world’s largest consumer electronics manufacturer. Primarily because security researchers who manage to document such attack vectors are usually eligible for some sort of a bug bounty.

Finally, the January 2021 security update also addresses another buffer overflow vulnerability specific to Galaxy devices that existed for over three years. But that one is as mundane as such threats tend to get as it relies on a pretty infinite resource called outdated modem drivers (for Bluetooth, in this instance).

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Mobile carrier reveals how much the Galaxy S21 series might cost

Samsung fans have been looking forward to the Galaxy S21 for a couple of months now. The company confirmed its next Unpacked event this week. As we had previously reported, the Galaxy S21 lineup will be unveiled in a virtual event on January 14, 2021.

The company has obviously not confirmed pricing at this stage. It’s only going to do that on the launch date. However, there have been several reports about how much the Galaxy S21 series might cost. Now, a Belgian mobile carrier appears to have revealed the pricing.

How much will the Galaxy S21 series cost?

According to a new report, Belgian carrier Voo has revealed the prices for the Galaxy S21 series. The base variants with 128GB internal storage will cost 849, 1049 and 1399 euro for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ and the Galaxy S21 Ultra respectively.

Earlier reports have suggested that the Galaxy S21 series will be priced lower than its predecessor. The 128GB base models of the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20 Ultra were priced at 999, 1099 and 1349 euro at launch respectively.

This carrier is pricing the Galaxy S21 Ultra higher than its predecessor, but there might be some tax additions to the price that may have been taken into account here. There’s still reason to believe that the upcoming flagships might be priced lower than their predecessors in most markets.

Obviously, we’ll only get to know about the Galaxy S21 prices for sure come January 14th. Samsung hasn’t revealed when the new handsets are going to hit shelves. Previous reports suggest that the Galaxy S21 series will be released before the end of this month.

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Early Galaxy S21 adopters in Thailand can buy the flagship for less than $1

Samsung customers in Thailand can now Reserve The Epic, i.e., the Galaxy S21 and the first 100 customers have an incredible opportunity to acquire the device for only 21 baht ($0.70) as long as they’re willing to trade in an old digital camera.

Registrations for the Galaxy S21 series are now open for everyone in Thailand. Existing Samsung customers who register their interest in the flagship are given a unique code, and the first 100 Samsung customers to use the code and trade in a digital camera will receive the flagship phone virtually for free.

Samsung Thailand also offers incentives for the first 1,000 registration customers who may not have an old digital camera lying around. They will have priority over other customers and be among the first to receive the Galaxy S21 in their mailboxes, and they’ll benefit from additional special promotions, though Samsung Thailand hasn’t shared specific details.

All these lucky customers – regardless of whether they’re the first 100 or 1,000 – will benefit from one year of Samsung Care+ Platinum (worth 2,939 baht) for free. Registrations are open until January 14 when Unpacked 2021 is scheduled to take place. The Galaxy S21 is expected to go on sale in most markets before the end of the month.

Galaxy S21

• Model: SM-G991B
• Dimensions: Bar: 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm
  
• Display: 6.2 inch / 157.48 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Exynos 2100
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy S21+

• Model: SM-G996B
• Dimensions: Bar: 161.4 x 75.6 x 7.8 mm
  
• Display: 6.7 inch / 170.18 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Exynos 2100
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy S21 Ultra

• Model: SM-G998B
• Dimensions: Bar: 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm
  
• Display: 6.8 inch / 172.72 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Exynos 2100
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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BREAKING: Galaxy S10 Android 11 One UI 3.0 update is now live!

It’s taken a little longer than Galaxy S10 owners would have liked, but the stable Android 11-based One UI 3.0 update has finally been released for Samsung’s first flagships with a punch-hole display. As pointed out to us by one of our readers, the update is rolling out for the Galaxy S10e and the Galaxy S10 5G in Switzerland at this time, but it shouldn’t be long before the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ join in on the fun.

How long until beta users can download the Android 11 update?

It should be noted that those who enrolled in the Galaxy S10 One UI 3.0 beta program might not necessarily get the stable update today, or even sometime later this week. Beta testers using a Galaxy Note 20/Note 20 Ultra, for example, got the stable update a few days after those on Android 10/One UI 2.5, and the same might be true for the Galaxy S10 lineup. It may also take a week or two before the Galaxy S10 Android 11 rollout goes properly global.

If you own a Galaxy S10 series phone, you can check if the update is available by tapping the Download and install option in the Settings » Software update menu on the device. The full firmware files for all countries where the update goes live will be downloadable from our archives and can be used for manually upgrading to Android 11 using a Windows PC.

Update not yet available for you? While you wait, check out what new features and changes you can expect in Android 11 and One UI 3.0. You might also want to backup all the important data on your phone in the meantime, which is a good practice to follow before you install a major OS upgrade.

Thanks for the tip, Răzvan!

Galaxy S10e

• Model: SM-G970F
• Dimensions: Bar: 142.2 x 69.9 x 7.9 mm
  
• Display: 5.8 inch / 147.32 mm Dynamic AMOLED Display
• CPU: Exynos 9820
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy S10 5G

• Model: SM-G977B
• Dimensions: Bar: 162.6 x 77.1 x 7.9 mm
  
• Display: 6.7 inch / 170.18 mm Dynamic AMOLED Display
• CPU: Exynos 9820
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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New report predicts Samsung’s smartphone market share could drop in 2021

Samsung fell short of its smartphone shipment target last year due to the pandemic, related closures, and the economic conditions. For 2021, the company has set a target to ship over 300 million smartphones globally. However, a new report predicts that the South Korean firm might not be able to meet its targets.

According to TrendForce, Samsung might ship 267 million smartphones by the end of 2021. That is slightly higher than last year, but still not close to the company’s targets. Moreover, the report also states that the South Korean tech titan’s smartphone market share could drop from 21% in 2020 to 19% in 2021. Apple’s market share could increase from 15% to 16%, while Xiaomi could see its market share rise from 11% to 14%. Due to sanctions against Huawei, its market share could drop from 13% to just 3%.

Chinese brands like Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo could fill the void left by Huawei and even grab some market from Samsung. OPPO’s smartphone market share could increase from 11% to 13% and Vivo’s market share could increase from 8% to 10%. Google and OnePlus are nowhere to be see in the top 7 list.

The whole smartphone market is expected to rebound this year. The report states that 5G would be the most important talking point in the smartphone industry in 2021, and market penetration could reach as high as 37% globally. However, chipset supply could be limited. Samsung is planning to launch more foldable and 5G smartphones this year, which might increase its average selling price.

 

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Galaxy Note 20 fingerprint reader fooled by screen protectors

No software is perfect, but Samsung just found a pretty vivid method of reminding us to stay vigilant. Namely, the company just released a changelog detailing the January 2021 security update for its devices which eliminates nine vulnerabilities affecting Galaxy smartphones, including a pretty alarming issue with the Galaxy Note 20 fingerprint reader.

Samsung disclosed that this firmware eliminates “abnormal behavior” resulting in a high frequency of false-positive fingerprint readings on the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. The kicker is that the root of the issue isn’t some ingenious hacking vector but a bug associated with screen protectors.

Should you trust fingerprint readers to protect your data?

In other words, slapping a screen protector was all it took to spoof some Galaxy Note 20 fingerprint readers until now. This isn’t to say literally any screen protector would have done the job, but Samsung is unsurprisingly light on the details about this situation.

And if all of this sounds familiar, that’s probably because owners of Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S10 devices already went through these same motions last year.

With that said, it would appear the entire Galaxy Note 20 range was potentially affected. On the bright side, the security flaw was eliminated relatively quickly – in just over two months from its discovery.

The January patch started hitting select Galaxy Note 20 models within the last 24 hours and will presumably take a couple of weeks to roll out globally, as is usually the case.

This episode is just another reminder of why fingerprint authentication shouldn’t be considered a true alternative to more traditional authorization methods, such as a PIN or a password. And the very fact Samsung disclosed the said vulnerability confirms it was able to reproduce false-positive fingerprint readings after being tipped off about the issue.

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Samsung boss visits chip plant and R&D center to prepare for 2021

Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong is in the middle of a court trial right now, but he is making sure that the company is ready to face challenges in 2021. He recently visited the company’s chip plant in Pyeongtaek and the Samsung Research office in South Korea to oversee how things are panning out.

To mark the start of this new year, the company’s Vice Chairman inspected Samsung’s second chip fabrication plant in Pyeongtaek on Monday. Later, he visited the company’s network equipment manufacturing facility and then held a meeting of top-level executives at its Global Technology Center in Suwon yesterday. Lee discussed how the company could further improve production quality and quantity.

The company started the mass production of DRAM using the EUV process in 2020 on Line 2 in Pyeongtaek. In 2021, Samsung is planning to operate a full foundry production line at the second fabrication unit. Lee discussed future strategies with senior executives after he attended the event to celebrate the arrival of foundry production equipment for the second chip plant.

Right now, TSMC is the world’s largest foundry firm, and it is estimated to take a 54% share of the market this year. Samsung, on the other hand, is expected to capture an 18% share of the market. The South Korean tech titan plans to become the world’s largest semiconductor company by 2030 by investing $115 billion and by bringing cutting-edge fabrication processes.

At the R&D center, Lee was briefed on Samsung’s latest projects on AI, servers, and next-generation (6G) telecommunication technologies. Samsung Research is led by renowned AI expert Sebastian Seung, and he oversees the company’s AI, software, and telecom technologies. He is working on improving home appliances, smartphones, and TV with human-like algorithms.

It is being said that Lee’s visits to the company’s plants and R&D centers will boost employee morale and encourage the company to secure its future growth engines in the post-pandemic era.

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