Qualcomm’s newly-announced ultrasonic fingerprint reader is 77% larger and 50% faster than the first-generation sensor used in the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy S20 series. It means that the new sensor will be easier to locate while unlocking the device. It has an area of 64mm² in a square form factor (8x8mm). In comparison, the first-generation sensor was 36mm² big in a rectangular form factor (4x9mm). The company states that its new sensor can capture 1.77x more biometric data. It is also extremely thin at just 0.2mm, an advantage over rival optical fingerprint sensors.
The company said that the second-gen ultrasonic fingerprint reader would start appearing in smartphones in early 2021. We will likely see it being used in the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which will be unveiled on January 14. We might also see it on the Galaxy Note 21 series later in the year.
Samsung’s chipset division had published a heartwarming Thank You video in mid-December in anticipation of a new year and a brand-new Exynos 2100 chipset. The company followed up by sending out invites for the event a few weeks later, and it published another teaser video – this time on a more serious tone – along with the tagline Exynos is back.
It’s January 11 and Samsung is now getting ready to finally unveil its latest chipset creation that’s meant to compete with and coexist alongside Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 platform. Samsung will host the Exynos 2100 launch event tomorrow, January 12, at 11 PM KST / 9 AM EST.
As expected given the current climate, the event will take place exclusively online, but the fact that it will be carried in a virtual space hasn’t taken away from the excitement surrounding it. It’s been years since Samsung fans have waited for the Exynos chipset to deliver the same, or higher performance levels than Qualcomm’s solution, and it might finally happen this year.
Fans will soon have the opportunity to tune in and watch the company’s livestream on YouTube. We’ll be updating this story and embed the livestream below as soon as the event goes live. Stay tuned, and in the meantime you can refer to Samsung’s official Exynos 2100 countdown page to make sure you won’t miss out on anything.
It turns out that the optional S Pen accessory for the Galaxy S21 Ultra won’t be offered exclusively through the flip case that was leaked a few days ago. Prospective buyers who may want to utilize the S Pen in conjunction with the upcoming flagship phone will have a second option to choose from, reveals a handful of new renders leaked via WinFuture. They depict a non-flip cover for the Galaxy S21 Ultra boasting an S Pen slot on the left side.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra will be the first Galaxy S smartphone to boast compatibility with the S Pen thanks to a new digitizer. But unlike the Galaxy Note series, the Galaxy S21 Ultra won’t have a built-in S Pen holster, which means that buyers will decide for themselves whether or not they’ll want to use the optional S Pen.
Granted, the solution is not as elegant as the Galaxy Note series. The case clearly adds some girth to the already-large Galaxy S21 Ultra, and because there’s no need for an eject mechanism, the S Pen itself lacks the satisfying clicker button at the top.
Pricing details for these S Pen accessories remain unknown for the time being but we’ll find out more on January 14 at Unpacked 2021. Until then, feel free to share your thoughts on the two Galaxy S21 Ultra S Pen cases that have leaked so far and let us know which one you prefer more.
Samsung’s Galaxy Upcycling program that was introduced all the way back in 2017 is about to reach consumers in a whole different way. The program, which was created as a way to prolong the life of old Galaxy devices by repurposing them, will soon expand with a new update called Galaxy Upcycling at Home.
At CES 2021 Samsung revealed that it will be updating the software of older Galaxy phones later this year, and this will allow owners to repurpose them as new IoT devices. In an example shown by the company in the recent Upcycling presentation video for CES 2021, the company turns an old Galaxy phone into an IoT baby monitor. The repurposed phone picks up and monitors the audio, then it sends a notification whenever it senses a baby crying.
Up until now the Upcycling program hasn’t been fully available to the general public. It was more of a testing platform for the company to exemplify how old tech could be repurposed. Back in 2017 Samsung demonstrated the concept by turning a bunch of old Galaxy S5 units into a Bitcoin mining rig, and last year Samsung demonstrated a medical eye scanner that was powered by an older Galaxy phone.
The Upcycling at Home update will bring the program to the forefront like never before, as it will empower consumers with the necessary tools for repurposing their smartphone into IoT devices depending on their needs. And because most Galaxy phones benefit from the Knox security suite, these IoT home devices resulted from the Upcycling at Home program will be highly secure without requiring anything extra.
CES is the place where consumer electronics companies can showcase less conventional products and demonstrate how their technologies could change our lives for the better. Samsung has done exactly that at CES 2021 when it unveiled a new household robot powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It’s called Samsung Bot Handy and despite the name, it doesn’t seem to be related with the fictional Mister Handy household robots from the Fallout video game franchise.
Samsung Bot Handy is a lot taller than other AI-powered robots we’ve seen from the company before. This makes it a lot more competent at picking up and handling objects of varying shapes, sizes, and weights, which is an essential set of skills for a robot that claims to be designed as an extension of you in the kitchen, living room, and anywhere else you may need an extra hand in your home. Indeed, Bot Handy should be able to pour wine for you, wash the dishes, do laundry and perform other chores.
According to Samsung, Bot Handy can tell the difference between the material compositions of various objects and it can determine the appropriate amount of force it should apply when grabbing and moving household objects. The robot is fairly slim and has swiveling arms with countless joints, and Samsung even gave it a digital face, or to be precise, a pair of expressive eyes.
The future is not here just yet
If the idea of owning a household robot powered by AI is right up your alley then you might be disappointed to learn that Samsung Bot Handy is not yet available for purchase. Samsung claims that the robot is in development but hasn’t revealed any availability details. On the bright side, Samsung did unveil more than just one robot at CES 2021, and at least one of them should hit the shelves in the first half of 2021.
In short, the company has a wider vision concerning household robots and how they could integrate with our lives. At CES 2021, Samsung unveiled Bot Handy as well as an updated version of Bot Care, and a brand-new AI-powered vacuum cleaner called JetBot 90 AI+.
The cylindrical vacuum cleaner is roughly half the size of Bot Handy and it’s equipped with LiDAR as well as 3D sensors for easy navigation. And with the help of SmartThings along with an on-board camera, JetBot 90 AI+ can also double as a home monitoring kit.
As for Samsung’s more ambitious robots like the Bot Handy, there’s no telling when or if it will ever be released in its current form. The company appears to be experimenting with various ideas around the field of robotics, and it was precisely a year ago when Samsung took the veil off Ballie, a tiny rolling robot powered by AI that never saw the light of day. But for what it’s worth, here’s what the not-so-distant future of robotics should look like, according to Samsung:
Samsung Display is launching a new brand awareness campaign with the goal of familiarizing more consumers with its OLED display panels. The campaign spans across 27 countries and brings about a new OLED Provided by Samsung logo. It was trademarked by Samsung in dozens of countries and it will be used across a variety of market segments.
Samsung has been manufacturing OLED technology for the past 14 years and the logo is meant to reflect unparalleled technical expertise in the OLED market as it enters its maturity stage. It should become a badge of trust in the eyes of customers, and it will help them identify products powered by Samsung’s OLED technology with more ease.
As far as the logo’s design story goes, the choice of RGB colors for the rectangular frame is meant to symbolize Samsung’s vision to connect people through vibrant ‘windows.’ Meanwhile, the frame’s rounded corners represent the scalability of Samsung’s OLED designs.
According to Samsung Display Executive Vice President Jeeho Baek, the company wants to aggressively position Samsung OLED technology across various areas moving forward. This year, customers can expect to see the OLED Provided by Samsung logo on products from a variety of segments including laptops, notebooks, gaming consoles, and automotive. The company has already announced new plans for OLED laptops shortly after New Year’s.
Unpacked 2021 is just a few days away, and if it feels like it’s a bit early for Samsung to be unveiling a new flagship smartphone series, that’s because it is. Samsung’s H1 Unpacked events throughout the years usually took place in February or March, but never in January. Unpacked 2021 will be different. It’s not only scheduled for January 14 but it will also be the first Galaxy S-focused launch event to take place exclusively online.
Millions of Samsung fans will have the opportunity to tune in and watch Samsung’s Unpacked 2021 online event on livestreaming platforms including YouTube. The countdown to the event is already live, in augmented reality, on Samsung’s dedicated Facebook and Instagram pages, and we will embed the Unpacked 2021 YouTube live feed below as soon as Samsung has the livestream up and running. Stay tuned if you don’t want to miss out.
What’s new at Unpacked 2021?
Samsung is getting ready to unveil the new Galaxy S21 series at Unpacked 2021, consisting of the standard Galaxy S21, the Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. They’re expected to use the company’s new Exynos 2100 chipset in most markets, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra is poised to become the first Galaxy S phone with S Pen support.
The company is also bound to introduce the new Galaxy Buds Pro earbuds at Unpacked 2021, as well as a new Galaxy Smart Tag or two. The company will reveal the design stories behind the new products and it will dive deeper into One UI 3.1. Exciting times indeed.
Samsung’s fruitful collaboration with the K-pop group BTS began in February last year around the time the Galaxy S20 series was introduced. BTS participated in Samsung’s marketing events surrounding the flagship series, and the latter was enriched by a Galaxy S20+ BTS Edition variant and a pair of Galaxy Buds+ BTS Edition earbuds. They were all wrapped in a new purple color that would appeal to the group’s fans, aka BTS ARMY.
In 2021, Samsung is strengthening its partnership with BTS to provide unique mobile experiences set to make your everyday epic, revealed the company in anticipation of Unpacked 2021. The event is scheduled for January 14 and, of course, it will be centered around the Galaxy S21 series and the Galaxy Buds Pro.
A purple Galaxy S21+ BTS Edition may or may not be on the way
Samsung’s official announcement regarding BTS in 2021 is more of a teaser than anything else, and because no purple Galaxy S21 BTS Edition variants have leaked so far, there is a possibility that Samsung and BTS have no plans to release a unique color option for the flagship series this year.
After all, BTS also promoted the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and the Galaxy S20 FE, but these marketing campaigns culminated in a few unboxing videos and no purple variants. On the other hand, given that Samsung’s partnership with BTS began with the Galaxy S20 series, it would be fitting for the Galaxy S21 to mark the year with a special edition.
If nothing else, you can be certain BTS will make an appearance at Unpacked 2021 on January 14. And if a purple Galaxy S21 BTS Edition variant exists, it will be interesting to see how it fits in the standard color scheme alongside Phantom Violet.
The latest Android security update – dated January 1st, 2021 – is now hitting select Galaxy Note 9 (SM-N960F) and Galaxy Fold (SM-N900F) models. Owners of the international variants of these flagships started encountering the new security patch within the last 24 hours. This development comes exactly a week after the January 2021 security update was first spotted in the wild.
As for the newly emerged firmware updates, the one targeting the Galaxy Note 9 is identified by version number N960FXXS7FUA1, whereas the patch intended for Samsung’s first-ever foldable smartphone is designated as release F900FXXS4CTL1. Besides security improvements, no other changes or additions are shipped as part of this over-the-air software upgrade.
How long until the newest security patch hits your smartphone?
Samsung already detailed the specifics of the January 2021 security update developed for its Android smartphones and tablets last week. As per usual, the newly started rollouts are meant to be gradual, meaning they’ll take some time to be completed. At least in the Galaxy Note 9’s case; the January 2021 security update for the Galaxy Fold is already available for download in most of Europe. Presumably, because that particular smartphone sold in minuscule volumes, so its software patches don’t pose an infrastructural risk to carriers if they’re pushed out all at once.
Either way, you can try triggering a manual installation by going to your device’s Settings > Software update menu, and selecting the Download and install option on the following interface. If that fails, there’s always the option of downloading a compatible system image from our firmware archives and flashing it to your smartphone by yourself. So long as you know what you’re doing, that is.
It was revealed late last year that Samsung has been working on a Tile-like object tracker. A few weeks ago, the Galaxy SmartTag’s design, features, color variants, and pricing-related information was leaked. A new report now states that the company is working on a higher-end version of the Galaxy SmartTag.
According to a report from 91Mobiles, Samsung will launch two new object trackers: Galaxy SmartTag (EI-T5300) and Galaxy SmartTag+ (EI-T7300). While it is still unclear what additional features the Galaxy SmartTag+ would offer over the Galaxy SmartTag, both object trackers can connect to Galaxy smartphones and stick to objects that you want to track. They also feature Bluetooth 5.1, end-to-end encryption, and ‘Privacy ID’ for enhanced security. Both trackers are rumored to come in four color variants: Black, Denim Blue, Mint, and Oatmeal.
The Galaxy SmartTag and the Galaxy SmartTag+ are expected to be unveiled alongside the Galaxy S21 series on January 14. Their pricing is rumored to start from €15, and the Galaxy SmartTag will be offered for free with the Galaxy S21 pre-orders in most markets. These object trackers will be compatible with the SmartThings Find service.
