BREAKING: Samsung confirms August 11 Unpacked, teases new foldables

The event that many Samsung fans have been looking forward to has been officially confirmed today. The company just announced that it will conduct an Unpacked event on August 11 to unveil new devices.

A teaser for the event has also been released online. It clearly hints at the two upcoming foldable smartphones – the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. These devices are certainly going to be the highlight of the event.

August 11 Unpacked is going to be packed full of new devices

The August 11 date has been rumored for some time now. Samsung has only just confirmed it today. Like all of its major events over the past year, next month’s Unpacked will also be an entirely virtual affair.

Samsung is going to launch a handful of other devices in addition to these foldables. There’s the Galaxy Watch 4, the Galaxy Buds 2 and we might even get a peek at the Galaxy S21 FE. At least some of the new devices will hit the market on August 27.

Fans certainly have a lot to look forward to from this event. The new Galaxy Z devices are shaping up to the best foldables yet from Samsung. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 might just be the first foldable smartphone to have support for the S Pen.

August is the month in which Samsung has traditionally launched new Galaxy Note handsets. It’s not going to do that this time around. As we have already reiterated, there’s not going to be a Galaxy Note 21 this year.

There’s plenty to look forward to in the new foldable smartphones. They’re expected to be more durable and powerful than their predecessors. The new Galaxy Watch 4 is also the first to run on the new Android-based Wear platform that Samsung has developed with Google.

You can tune into the Galaxy Unpacked event through Samsung.com and the company’s official YouTube channel. It takes place Wednesday, August 11 at 23:00 KST (10:00 EDT / 15:00 BST). As always, we’ll also have complete coverage of the event here at SamMobile. Who’s excited?!

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Crazy fast charging speeds might indeed be a reality for the Galaxy S22

It took a long time for Samsung to leave behind the 15W fast charging standard it had been using for its devices for many years. The company introduced 25W and 45W super fast charging back in 2019, and while the latter wasn’t that much faster than the former, it was still nice to have, even if just for boasting rights.

Unfortunately, Samsung decided to take a step back last year when it limited the Galaxy Note 20 lineup to 25W charging, a limitation that carried forward to this year’s Galaxy S21 series as well. But there have been some hints recently that Samsung might come back with a bang next year by introducing support for 65W charging on the Galaxy S22 lineup. Another credible source is now putting more fuel to the fire.

Twitter Leakster and our good friend FrontTron posted earlier today that 65W charging support is in the test phase for “Rainbow RGB”. For those wondering, Rainbow has previously been claimed to be the codename for the Galaxy S22 lineup, with the R, G, and B denoting the Galaxy S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra.

Now, as was the case with 45W charging, the Galaxy S22 series probably won’t support 65W charging on all models, though Samsung could decide to mix things up next year. What will be interesting to see is just how much faster the more powerful charger will be compared to 25W charging, which itself is quite speedy.

As for whether or not there will be a charger included in the box, well, do we even need to wonder? The Galaxy S21 series doesn’t ship with a charger (or earphones), and that’s likely going to be the case with all future flagship smartphone launches from the Korean giant. Because, you know, profits the environment comes first.

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CEO exposes how Samsung’s supplier contracts oppose the right to repair

iFixit co-founder and CEO Kyle Wiens is speaking out against companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung, for purposefully making their products more difficult to repair, and for preventing third-party repairers from acquiring replacement parts.

We all know that mobile products have become more difficult to repair due to the increased use of glass and strong adhesives but the problem of reparability goes beyond the product’s design.

During a recent Productivity Commission hearing, iFixit CEO Kyle Weins exposed how manufacturers restrict the ability to repair products by making parts difficult to obtain. It turns out that companies like Samsung have special clauses in their supplier contracts that prevent them from selling replacement parts to third parties.

Supply chain contracts can be a loophole to the right to repair

Kyle Weins exemplified how supply chain contracts are used to control the flow of replacement parts on the market using Varta — a battery supplier for Samsung.

Samsung uses Varta coin cell batteries for its Galaxy earbuds, which means that, in theory, any third-party repairer should be able to acquire this component with relative ease. It’s just a Varta coin cell battery, after all. However, Weins clarified that the contract between Samsung and Varta prevents the latter company from selling replacement components.

“[…] when we go to Varta and say ‘can we buy that part as a repair part?’ they’ll say ‘No, our contract with Samsung will not allow us to sell that,'” added Kyle Weins in an interview with ZDNet.

In other words, it’s nice that the Galaxy Buds are some of the easier-to-repair wireless earbuds on the market, but that doesn’t count for much if replacement parts are virtually impossible to find. It makes for some nice PR, but it doesn’t really help customers.

What’s worrying is that, according to Weins, more and more suppliers are now signing these types of agreements that prevent them from selling replacement parts.

As for Samsung, the company’s been launching its Door to Door repair service in more markets, so there’s that, even though it doesn’t help in ways of third-party repairability.

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Your next Samsung Chromebook could have an NVIDIA RTX GPU

The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is the world’s first laptop to utilize Nvidia’s RTX 3050 Ti GPU, but it looks like we might see RTX technology across a wider variety of notebook types soon. Nvidia has recently demonstrated RTX and other high-end graphical technologies running on the Linux platform with ARM hardware and revealed how demanding games and 3D-intensive apps could have a future with ARM Chromebooks.

More precisely, Nvidia recently tested the RTX 3060 GPU together with the ARM-based MediaTek Kompanio 1200 processor in Linux while running the FPS title Wolfenstein: Youngblood. The Kompanio 1200 is a new MediaTek CPU that’s planned to be utilized by upcoming higher-end Chromebooks.

But it’s important to keep in mind that this is not just a demo — impressive as it may be. Nvidia has already made some of its latest RTX-related SDKs available for the ARM and Chromium environments, so it’s quite serious about giving OEMs the necessary tools to bring the power of RTX to ARM Chromebooks.

Samsung has good reasons to give ARM Chromebooks another try

Samsung’s latest Chromebooks are powered by Intel, which means they’re based on the x86 architecture as opposed to ARM. Nevertheless, Samsung did release a few ARM-based Chromebooks many years ago, such as the ARM Series 3 Chromebook, and the oddly-named “XE303C12-A01.”

Samsung gave up on ARM Chromebooks a few years back, but ARM is making a comeback, especially now after the release of the Apple M1 chip. More to the point at hand, there are plenty of new reasons for Samsung to be considering switching back to the ARM platform. Well, five reasons, to be precise. They are: Nvidia’s DLSS, RTX Global Illumination, RTX Direct Illumination, RTX Memory Utility, and Nvidia Real-Time Denoiser technologies.

According to The Verge, these technologies either have SDKs for ARM, Linux, and Chromium, or they’re planned to be released soon by Nvidia.

There’s no official word on whether or not Samsung will release new ARM Chromebooks in the future, but market watchers estimate that nearly 50% of the company’s global notebook shipments will be covered by Chromebooks. And if Nvidia’s latest RTX demos persuade enough Chromebook OEMs to hop on the ARM bandwagon, chances of Samsung doing the same will be exponentially higher.

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Samsung Display to supply Apple with OLED for the next-gen iPad

Apple’s next iPad is rumored to forego LCD technology in favor of OLED, and industry reports suggest that the Cupertino giant has signed OLED contracts with LG Display and Samsung Display, both of which will be responsible for supplying Apple with OLED panels for future iPad models.

Because of this, Samsung Display is said to have begun reviewing its OLED investment plans. The company is reportedly discussing with Japan’s Dainippon Printing about the supply of fine metal mask (FMM) tensioners required for OLED display manufacturing.

For now, it’s unclear who will be supplying the majority of OLED panels for future iPads — Samsung Display or LG — but whoever gets the bulk of orders will be at a great advantage.

Dozens of millions of iPads are shipped every year

The iPad is by far the most popular tablet in the world, with market tracker Statista estimating that Apple shipped roughly 12.7 million iPads in Q1 2021 alone.

It goes without saying that Samsung Display has an opportunity to sell millions of OLED displays for iPads every year. However, it won’t be alone in this, and LG Display will want a piece of that pie.

In other news, Samsung is also rumored to be the main supplier for Nintendo’s latest Switch OLED revision, and this should help the company’s bottom line, given the console’s popularity.

All in all, OLED displays are becoming increasingly popular across multiple market segments, and Samsung Display is in a very favorable position as the world’s leading OLED display manufacturer.

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Samsung brings 360 Audio to the Galaxy M51 with a new firmware update

Samsung began updating the Galaxy M51 with a new security patch last week, but the initial release happened in Russia and Ukraine. Now, the firmware update is reaching the Galaxy M51 in India, and the changelog represents more than the usual boring affair. It mentions enhanced Quick Share, Google RCS (Rich Communication Services) integration, and the addition of 360 Audio.

The new Galaxy M51 firmware update sounds similar to an earlier update that was released for the Galaxy A70 back in May. Same as before, the addition of 360 Audio will allow Galaxy M51 owners who use the Galaxy Buds Pro to replicate multi-dimensional surround sound through Dolby Head Tracking technology.

Improved security is par for the course

The June 2021 security patch is included in this latest release. It addresses 47 issues found within Google’s Android operating system and 19 issues affecting Samsung’s own software. A few critical issues have also been addressed.

The new firmware update for the Galaxy M51 in India can be identified by firmware version M515FXXU3CUG1. As always, the update should be accompanied by a notification on your phone, but Galaxy M51 users can try to trigger the update process from the Software update menu inside the Settings app.

SamMobile readers can circumvent this by downloading the latest Samsung firmware update from our database and installing it manually on the Galaxy M51.

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Apple wants LG stores in South Korea to sell iPhones around Unpacked

It looks like LG’s retirement from the mobile industry will spell bad news for Samsung on its home turf. It turns out that Apple could end up selling iPhones and other fruit-labeled products in South Korea through LG’s expansive retail infrastructure, after all, and thus becoming a much more significant threat to Samsung in the process.

LG will formally finalize its exit from the mobile market later this month. LG Electronics will maintain its focus on computers, home appliances, and other household products, but the company is no longer manufacturing and selling phones under its brand. With no new LG smartphones being planned to be sold in South Korea, Apple sees this as an opportunity to occupy those empty spaces on the shelves with iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.

Apple to sell products at 400 LG Best Shops nationwide from August

According to a new report from the local media, LG has agreed to sell Apple products, including iPhones, iPads, and Watches, through its wide retail network nationwide starting August. Its network comprises 400 LG Best Shops, so Apple’s products will be almost ubiquitous.

Now, as you all probably know by now, Samsung will host its next major Galaxy Unpacked event on August 11, where its latest foldable phones and wearable devices will be unveiled. So, the fact that Apple wants to increase its retail footprint through LG starting August might not be a mere coincidence. It’s more likely that Apple wants to take the fight to Samsung and oppose the company’s push into the era of foldables as much as possible.

To avoid a conflict of interests, Apple won’t be selling iMacs or Macbooks in LG’s stores, as the latter company continues manufacturing PC components and laptops of its own.

Is LG going against the National Mobile Communication Distribution Association?

LG’s decision to partner with Apple has caused some controversy in South Korea, as this new business plan might be going against an earlier “win-win” agreement established by the National Mobile Communication Distribution Association.

The Distribution Association initially claimed that the LG-Apple alliance goes against the “win-win agreement for small and medium enterprises” signed in 2018. However, this early conclusion is now being re-evaluated because of LG’s new position in the market. LG’s role is not the same as it was back in 2018, and because it has retired from the mobile industry, the company could be in its rights to sell Apple products at its stores.

Whatever the case may be, Apple’s aggressive push into South Korea doesn’t spell good news for Samsung, and it’s odd to think that LG’s demise might have a huge negative impact on Samsung’s domestic mobile business in the long run.

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Thanks, dbrand: Galaxy Z Fold 3 design confirmed in 3 colors

As we move closer to the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the air of mystery surrounding Samsung’s next flagship continues to dissipate. Case in point: These newly announced dbrand skins for the device that pretty much confirm its design. They do so across three colors, which seem to correspond to the actual Galaxy Z Fold 3 colors, according to one late June leak.

Those would be black, white, and a shade of olive green that seems to be on the darker end of the spectrum. All three also re-confirm the rear-facing triple-camera setup accompanied by a dual-LED, dual-tone flash unit. The actual dbrand website lets you mix and match those three base colors with a plethora of other patterns in various hues for some unique, highly customized results. But none of those are likely associated with the official palette Samsung has in store for the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Which one of these Galaxy Z Fold 3 colors do you like best?

As these thing usually go, dbrand isn’t claiming its skins are a perfectly accurate representation of the Galaxy Z Fold 3. They aren’t claiming anything, for that matter. But after seeing this pattern emerge time and time again, it’s pretty safe to assume we’re looking at Samsung’s next foldable flagship here.

The very same one that’s going to feature S Pen support, which even Bixby started teasing as of today. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is poised to launch on August 11th, and should be hitting the store shelves – both digital and physical alike – by the end of the next month.

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The Galaxy A10e is one of the world’s cheapest phones to get Android 11

Samsung has turned its attention towards one of the most affordable Galaxy phones released in 2019 — the Galaxy A10e — and it’s now rolling out a sizeable firmware update to Android 11. It’s a pleasant surprise, given that the Galaxy A10e was updated with the June 2021 security patch mere weeks ago.

The new update is  rolling out for the Galaxy A10e (SM-A102U) in the USA. It can be identified by firmware number A102USQUBCUFC and the fact that it includes the latest July 2021 security patch. But evidently, the most exciting thing about this new release is that it brings Android 11 and a newer version of One UI.

The Galaxy A10e has always been a low-cost phone, and it’s more so now, two years after its release. Therefore, the new OS is accompanied by a more simplistic “Core” version of One UI. It lacks certain features usually reserved for more powerful phones, but at least it introduces a more modern UI design.

This is the last major Android OS update for the Galaxy A10e

The Galaxy A10e is a modest low-cost phone that was released in August 2019 running Android 9. The phone was later updated to Android 10, which means that the latest upgrade to Android 11 will be its last.

Of course, since the Galaxy A10e was released in 2019, it’s eligible for Samsung’s reworked security update policy and should continue to receive security patches for at least two more years.

As for Android 11, Galaxy A10e (SM-A102U) owners in the USA should receive an update notification at any moment. They can also try triggering the update by opening the Settings app on the phone, navigating to Software update, and tapping Download and install. And, of course, SamMobile readers can download the latest Galaxy A10e updates from our firmware database and install them on their phones manually.

For the time being, the Android 11 update appears to be rolling out for Xfinity Mobile customers, but other network operators should be joining the party soon.

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Android apps for the Galaxy Watch 4 will be easier to install

Although it’ll be a few weeks before we get to see the Wear-powered Samsung smartwatches in action, we know a fair bit about what they could have in store for us. Wear is a new platform for smartwatches that Google and Samsung have collaborated on.

For starters, we exclusively reported about the Galaxy Watch 4‘s storage and underlying chipset. We also know what they’ll look like, thanks to a slew of leaked renders that showed up online. Now, Google has detailed what it has in store for Wear via a blog post.

App installation process has been simplified

A future update to the Google Play Store will let users sideload Wear apps directly to a connected smartwatch. It is a significantly more streamlined experience than juggling between the Galaxy Store and  Samsung Wearable app just to install a watch face. Although the post doesn’t explicitly state it, one will very likely need an active Bluetooth connection between the smartwatch and the linked smartphone.

The Play Store interface on Wear-powered smartwatches will get a fresh coat of paint, too. It’ll now use the Material You principles that Google showcased at Google I/O, placing important information front and centre.

Lastly, any in-app purchases made via the Play Store on your watch will be sent to the linked smartphone’s browser, where they’ll need to be authorized. Google rounds things off by saying that the update will roll out to eligible devices in the coming weeks.

We can reasonably assume that the upcoming Samsung smartwatches with Wear will already have all of these features baked in.

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Bixby’s Galaxy Unpacked teasing is going to make Note fans cry

In case you missed today’s news, you can now ask Bixby about next month’s Galaxy Unpacked and get some rather curious answers in return. For example, inquiring about the contents of Samsung’s next big product event will have Bixby respond with scribbling sounds. At least on our end, that is.

You can try replicating this behavior yourself by asking Bixby something along the lines of “what is Samsung going to announce at the next Unpacked?” Mind you, this is on top of the cryptic Morse code message that indirectly tells us to stay tuned for August 11th. Which is the ostensible date of the next Galaxy Unpacked, much like we’ve already deduced weeks ago.

What was that, Bixby? You, too, miss the Galaxy Note series?

The scribbling pen sounds aren’t that big of a mystery, either. They most likely allude to the fact that the star of the show – the Galaxy Z Fold 3 – will feature S Pen support. This is likely the closest we’re going to get to another Galaxy Note-like device generation this year. That is to say, we won’t, but there’s still hope for the future as Samsung hasn’t completely given up on the idea of doing another S Pen-centric smartphone series.

In the meantime, the mobile giant is trying to position its foldable devices as its ultimate flagship offerings. This, among other things, entails bringing S Pen support to the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Whether that act, alone, will result in a decisively better product compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is what remains to be seen. Though we do have our doubts.

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Samsung ambassador spotted with Galaxy Watch 4 as us plebs wait our turn

Another day, another glimpse at the Galaxy Watch 4. And while the last one was obviously calculated, we are not so sure that was the case this time around. Namely, Samsung’s upcoming wearable was spotted at the wrist of one Kim Yeon-kyung, the captain of the South Korean women’s volleyball team which will be competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, set to start in just a few days from now.

The model worn by the star athlete appears to be equipped with an olive green strap. That said, the Galaxy Watch 4 is expected to launch with an assortment of different-colored wristbands, likely around half a dozen of them. Looking at the wider picture, perhaps the most notable trait of the next generation of Samsung’s wearables is the fact that they will run Google’s Wear OS and not Tizen out of the box.

Was this a calculated Galaxy Watch 4 “leak”, or just a mere slip-up?

The Galaxy Watch 4 is set to launch in an official capacity next month, August 11th. It won’t be the only gadget Samsung’s going to unveil on the occasion, either. The Galaxy Buds 2, Galaxy Z Flip 3, and Galaxy Z Fold 3 are all expected to debut at next month’s Galaxy Unpacked. All four devices should be released globally by the end of the same month. The exact availability date is still up in the air, however. Primarily because Samsung, itself, remains undecided on the matter.

As for whether this was a calculated Galaxy Watch 4 leak or just a mere slip-up on Kim’s part, you decide. What does it look like from your point of view?

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Samsung Malaysia Shopee Super Brand Day offers revealed

Samsung is all set to offer some hefty discounts for its users based in Malaysia. Popular e-commerce platform Shopee Mall will offer attractive discounts for a wide range of Samsung products, as a part of its Super Brand Day offer. The promotion will span for three days and each day will have something unique.

A few lucky buyers can win a free pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, too. The top three spenders on July 22 will also win a pair of Sketchers shoes, while others stand to get RM50 ($12) off on their next purchase. Additionally, Samsung will give away prizes via live streams hosted on July 21 at 3 PM local time and July 22, 9.30 PM.

Grab Samsung products at a discount from Shopee

One can buy a top-of-the-line Galaxy S21 Ultra for RM4,899 ($11,159), as opposed to the full price of RM5,299($1,254). Other promotions include a 50-inch LED TV (unspecified model) for RM2,099 ($496) and a washer-dryer combo for RM2,799 ($662). The base Galaxy Note 20 5G gets a hefty discount, too, retailing at RM2,999 ($709).

However, you’re better off getting a Galaxy S20 FE for RM 1,999 ($473), instead. You can find the complete list of products and their promotional prizes on the dedicated Shopee landing page.

Citibank credit card users can avail of additional discounts up to RM320($75) for a minimum purchase of RM 4,000 and higher. People who apply for the Citi Clear credit card during the promotional period will get RM300($71) worth of Shopee credit.

Samsung had some vouchers of its, own, which knocked off RM350 ($82) on purchases of over RM3,500 (828). However, those appear to have been fully redeemed. Nonetheless, you can still take advantage of the remaining promotions Samsung has in store for you.

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