Samsung’s Gear SDK reveals Orbis design, UI, and specifications

Earlier today, Samsung released next-generation Gear smartwatch SDK to developers. This SDK comes bundled with comprehensive documentation, sample apps, and explanation about the upcoming Gear smartwatch along with images that help developers in understanding the SDK better. After going through those things, we found some more details about the device, including its possible design and hardware specifications.

It will feature a round watch face with metal frame and a metal crown. The circular display will have a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels which is 1.65”, resulting in a pixel density of 305 ppi, which is higher than any other smartwatch from Samsung till date. The device will also come equipped with a bunch of sensors and connectivity options including Wi-Fi, GPS, cellular connectivity, accelerometer, gyrosensor, heartbeat monitor, pressure sensor, and magnetic sensor.

You can have a look at various interface UI elements and watch faces of the upcoming smartwatches in the screenshots below.

The device is currently codenamed as Project Orbis internally, but it might be released as the Gear A. It is expected to be announced alongside the Galaxy Note 5 during IFA 2015.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/1KZC3yX
via IFTTT

Samsung’s mid-range lineup is showing noticeable signs of improvements

Samsung is losing market share. That much is true, especially in markets like China and India, and the low-end and mid-range segments are where Samsung has been affected the most. The reason is pretty simple – upstarts like Xiaomi and OnePlus have been offering amazing hardware at low prices, and Samsung’s phones have fallen by the wayside thanks to the fact that they are rather overpriced for the experience they offer.

When the Galaxy E5 and E7 were announced, I was skeptical about their success. On paper, neither of the two phones came close to what the competition was offering in these markets. Once I reviewed them though, I realized that both devices are possibly the best mid-range smartphones Samsung has ever made. They have great Super AMOLED displays (not as good as the ones on flagship phones), the software is fast and smooth with nary a hint of the lag and stutter that has been associated with Samsung smartphones, and their battery life is also pretty stellar.

Overall, both the Galaxy E5 and E7 offer more bang for the buck than anything Samsung has come up with before, and here in India, both devices are doing quite well. Retailers we have talked to have reiterated that consumers are showing a lot of interest in the two phones – the displays are what seem to attract consumers the most when it comes to the Galaxy E5 and E7, and compared to Samsung’s previous mid-range offerings, the pricing is somewhat sensible as well.

Basically, this is a good sign of how Samsung is beginning to slowly come around to the idea that the days of asking consumers to cough up more cash just because of its brand image are coming to an end. Neither the Galaxy E5 and E7 are as feature-packed as the offerings from smaller companies, but that’s not really an issue here. What’s important is that the Korean giant is finally offering appealing options to consumers in the mid-range market.

The low-end market is still completely bereft of anything remotely interesting from Samsung, but one step at a time (two, if you consider how the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge change the game in the high-end market) is looking like the right approach for the company’s attempts to keep the competition at bay.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/1RzhE8x
via IFTTT

Samsung releases next-generation Gear smartwatch SDK to developers, rotating bezel confirmed

Last month, Samsung teased the image of its upcoming smartwatch with a circular display, and asked developers to apply for an early access to the SDK for building apps for the device. Today, Samsung has released the SDK for its upcoming Gear smartwatch to the developers who signed up for an early access. Apparently, the Samsung Gear Early Access SDK allows developers to build “richer and differentiated apps for the next generation Gear device“.

Developers can now download the Tizen SDK 2.3.1 RC7 for Mac (64-bit), Ubuntu (32- and 64-bit), and Windows  (32- and 64-bit) platforms. Samsung is also providing a comprehensive documentation to help developers understand the new Tizen UI, which is specifically designed for smartwatches. The SDK contains an install manager, IDE, development assisting tools, documentation, sample apps, and platform images.

The documentation also mentions about rotating bezel for the upcoming Gear smartwatch, and there is a comprehensive explanation of how to use it for page navigation inside apps and for device controls. Users can use rotating bezel to get to a desired item in a list. If you haven’t signed up for an early access, you can head over to the source link and do it.

Samsung’s upcoming smartwatch is internally codenamed as ‘Orbis’, but it could be launched as the Gear A. It will run on Tizen, and it will feature a circular Super AMOLED display, rotating bezel, Exynos processor, Wi-Fi, cellular connectivity, Bluetooth, and calling feature. It was first expected to be launched with the Galaxy S6, but Samsung delayed the launch because it wanted to perfect the device so that it can better compete with the Apple Watch.

Via | Source

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/1zXssYL
via IFTTT

User agent profiles show up for Galaxy Tab S2, Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7

Samsung may have simplified the method of naming its devices, but the company sure hasn’t given up on its habit of launching multiple new phones and tablets from time to time. More often than not, the user agent profiles for upcoming devices show up online on Samsung’s mobile website and confirm some specs, and we have now come across three unreleased devices – the Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 and 9.7, the Galaxy J5, and the Galaxy J7.

The most important spec these UAProf’s reveal are the screen resolutions – we have already exclusively reported on all these devices, and their user agent profiles confirm what we had said before. The Galaxy Tab S2 will feature a screen resolution of 2048×1536 pixels, while both the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 will come with HD (1280×720) displays. The Galaxy Tab S2 will be the first tablet from Samsung to feature a display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, and the Galaxy J5 and J5 will help Samsung expand on its currently unimpressive Galaxy J smartphone lineup.

The Galaxy Tab S2 will be unveiled in June, with a market launch following a month later. There’s no word on when the Galaxy J5 and J7 will arrive, but we’re guessing the launch will take place before the second half of this year.

Source (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/1KDNQ5o
via IFTTT

Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are getting another update with fingerprint and other improvements

The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge recently got a software update that was said to fix the memory management issues that has been ruining the experience for many on the two devices. That update hasn’t shown up in too many regions since it started rolling out, and it seems it might have been a limited release, as Samsung is pushing out a different update with a different changelog in various countries in Asia and Europe.

This new update comes with build number XXU1AOE3 (the other update was XXU1AODG) and has a more detailed changelog – it improves the fingerprint recognition process, enhances the interface of a few Samsung apps, adds a new unnamed feature in the Photo Editor, and improves compatibility with accessories. Over in Malaysia, the OTA is a 159MB download, and our testing shows that the RAM management is still somewhat messed up.

It’s unclear what the differences are between the two; the previous update was for the Vodafone network in the UK while the newer one is going out as a general update in the country, so it’s possible the former is exclusive to carriers and network operators. We’ll be sure to let you know once things clear up; in the meantime, don’t forget to head into the Settings » About device » Software update to see if the update is available for your device, or grab the firmware from our firmware section for your particular region for upgrading manually.

Thanks, Looi Shi Hao!

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/1F3S84E
via IFTTT

Samsung starts manufacturing handsets in Indonesia

We reported late last year that Samsung is going to set up a factory in Indonesia and start producing mobile devices there to meet the country’s demand. Samsung never revealed the size of this investment but said that it hopes to build up capacity to produce 900,000 units per month but initially the factory is expected to start with a capacity of just 100,000 units per month. A new report published today claims that Samsung has now started manufacturing handsets at its new facility in Indonesia.

Citing a person familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung actually started production at the new factory in Indonesia back in January this year. The new factory is reportedly located just outside Jakarta (Cikarang). As production ramps up, it is said that Samsung would ultimately like to be producing as many as 1.5 million units per month at this facility. The report also says that Samsung will be manufacturing its latest “4G-enabled smartphone” at this factory which will then be sold in the local market. Samsung has not yet officially confirmed the claims made in this report.

Source

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/1K3GtXW
via IFTTT

Galaxy S6 sales not spectacular in Japan despite the removal of Samsung’s corporate branding

We recently reported that Samsung had decided to forego its corporate branding in Japan and was now selling its latest handsets under the “Galaxy” branding in Japan. Units being sold in the country don’t have the Samsung logo on them or even on the box but it appears that this rebranding effort hasn’t done much to improve Samsung’s fortunes in Japan. Japanese market research firm BCN’s latest report shows that sales of the Galaxy S6 are far from spectacular in the country.

BCN’s report shows that on May 11 the Galaxy S6 edge ranked 26th in the Japanese smartphone weekly sales rankings from April 27 to May 3. At first sales of this handset appeared to be smooth as it ranked at 10th the first week of its launch. In just one week its ranking fell by 16 places and it was almost the same story with the Galaxy S6, it fell down from 17th place during its first week to 30th place in the following week. It’s interesting to note that the new handsets appear to be struggling only in the Japanese smartphone market because elsewhere they’re two of the hottest devices on the market right now.

Some “experts” cited in the report try to explain the reason behind this lackluster performance: MacArthur Syndrome, so it may all come down to perception, with the West perceived by consumers to be superior to the East. This could explain Apple’s stellar performance in the Japanese smartphone market which has made the iPhone the number one smartphone in the country. In fact six out of the top ten devices of the Japanese smartphone market are different iPhone models. Anti-Korean sentiment is seen as another reason why Samsung might be struggling as disputes over history have recently tensed up relations between Japan and South Korea.

Via

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/1bLQhah
via IFTTT