Samsung takes to Twitter to tease a new Galaxy On smartphone

Samsung has taken to its official Twitter account to share two short videos teasing a new smartphone that it’ll reveal in India on Thursday, October 20. The handset, which is believed to be the latest member in the rapidly-growing Galaxy On family of devices, will be sold exclusively through Flipkart.

Unfortunately, the teaser clips don’t disclose much about the phone, other than that it sports a full metal unibody, is powered by an octa-core chip and sports a rear-facing shooter that equipped with an LED flash. All other information remains a mystery.

Check them out below:

Octa core processor, seamless performance and more. All that you need, coming soon exclusively on Flipkart. https://t.co/uWv6VOrTar http://pic.twitter.com/FDCxhjAVnC

— Samsung Mobile India (@SamsungMobileIN) October 18, 2016

Full metal Uni body, stunning style and more. All that you need, coming soon exclusively on Flipkart. https://t.co/20wXMvwK1U http://pic.twitter.com/xA2PBQRLip

— Samsung Mobile India (@SamsungMobileIN) October 18, 2016

The good news is that we don’t have to wait too much longer to find out what Samsung has up its sleeve for its next iteration in the Galaxy On lineup, which is being referred to as the ‘Galaxy On Nxt’, as the unveiling event is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

In typical SamMobile fashion, we’ll be reporting live — so be sure to check back for all the latest information.

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Samsung allegedly attempts to cover up a new Galaxy Note 7 fire in China

Samsung attempted to cover up yet another Galaxy Note 7 fire in China, claims a new report. Zhang Sitong was saving a friend’s phone number on his Galaxy Note 7 when it started to vibrate and smoke. In an effort to protect his hands from the heat, he through it to the ground and told his friend to start filming.

Once the fire had been dealt with accordingly, Sitong reached out to Samsung to inform them of the situation. Later that day, two employees allegedly showed up at his house offering a new Galaxy Note 7 and approximately $900 in compensation on the condition that he kept the video private. As you’d expect, he refused.

“They said there was no problem with the phones in China. That’s why I bought a Samsung,” said Zhang, a 23-year-old former firefighter. “This is an issue of deception. They are cheating Chinese consumers.” It’s not only customers in China that feel betrayed, though.

Earlier today, Galaxy Note 7 owners in the US filed the first class-action lawsuit over the faulty handset, seeking damages for the firm’s mistreatment of customers because they had to keep paying their contracts while waiting for weeks on end for replacements to arrive.

It’s important to note, however, that this recent effort to cover up a fire should be taken with a pinch of salt as there’s very little proof — it’s just a consumer claim. Regardless of its authenticity, it doesn’t bode well for Samsung as it has attempted to gloss over a replacement unit catching fire in the past.

In fact, it makes you wonder how many times it’s actually been successful in paying customers for their silence.

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First class-action lawsuit filed over exploding Galaxy Note 7s in the US

It’s been uncovered in federal court records that dissatisfied customers have filed what’s believed to be the first US class-action lawsuit over exploding Galaxy Note 7s. The suit, which was filed in the US District Court in Newark, N.J., accuses Samsung of fraud and breach of warranty and good faith.

What’s strange, however, is that the customers aren’t seeking any damages over the units that actually caught fire. Instead, they’re seeking compensation for Samsung’s alleged mistreatment of customers because they had to keep paying their contracts while waiting for replacement devices to arrive.

After Samsung stopped selling and manufacturing the phones in early September, “consumers discontinued using their Note7s only to find out that Samsung did not have replacement smartphones available,” reveals to the suit, whose three named plaintiffs are from Nevada, Pennsylvania and California.

“Instead, Samsung informed consumers that they would have to wait several days, and even weeks in many cases, before receiving a replacement smartphone,” it alleges, while “consumers continued to incur monthly device and plan charges from their cellular carriers for phones they could not safely use.”

The suit also claims that loyal Note 7 customers in the US “incurred millions of dollars in fees” as they were left without a safe phone to use. We’re not entirely sure the class-action status will be approved by a judge, though, as we believe that Samsung has been fairly accommodating throughout the lengthy recall process.

We’ll have to wait and see.

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Samsung starts rolling out October security patch for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in Europe

Samsung has today started rolling out this month’s security patch to the International variant of both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in Europe. The upgrade — firmware version XXS1BPJ1 — is currently reaching handsets in Germany and the Netherlands, but is expected to land in other countries in the continent over the course of the week.

With regards to changes, the firmware transports patches for a total of 68 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) in both the Android OS and the company’s flagship smartphones. Unfortunately, the majority of the fixes are listed as “privately disclosed” to prevent hackers from attempting to expose them before the update starts making the rounds to all compatible devices.

As you’d expect, the over-the-air (OTA) upgrade is being pushed out in stages. However, if you’d like to see if it’s ready for your unit, you can do so by heading into Settings » About Device » Software Update » Update Now. Alternatively, you can always wait until you receive a notification prompting you to upgrade. It’s worth noting, though, that you’ll need to have at least 50% of battery to receive the alert.

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Samsung may address lack of gender diversity by adding female independent directors to its board

Lack of gender diversity in global business is routinely pointed out as a big problem that needs to be fixed. Activist investor hedge fund Elliott Associates recently pointed out a lack of diversity on Samsung Electronics’ board as part of its restructuring proposal for the company and Samsung is now said to be considering adding female independent directors to its board. The conglomerate’s Future Strategy Office has reportedly conducted studies on the number of outside board members each of its affiliates has, their area of expertise as well as their reason for appointment and tenure.

Samsung Electronics – the conglomerate’s cash cow – has a severe lack of diversity as all five independent directors are male. Ewha Women’s University professor Kim Eun-mi was appointed as the company’s first female director in 2013 but she was succeeded by Sungkyunkwan University professor Park Jae-wan after her term ended this year. The lack of diversity is apparent at other affiliates as well. Only three of the 15 listed companies operating under the Samsung Group have independent female directors.

Samsung has a lot of time on its hands to come up with a strategy that addresses the lack of diversity on Samsung Electronics’ board unless it’s willing to increase the number of seats. No independent board member will see their term end before March 2018 so Samsung has a couple of years to chalk out a strategy and be ready to put it in motion when the time comes.

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Samsung urges employees and suppliers to prevent leaks as it tackles major challenges

The Galaxy Note 7 ended up doing more harm than good for Samsung and now the company has to work harder than it has ever before to eliminate the perception that its smartphones tend to explode. It also has to prove a point with the Galaxy S8 to show its fans and rivals that it’s capable of taking a hit and bouncing back in spectacular fashion. Samsung’s management also faces multiple challenges in the months to come so the company is being extra cautious about what gets put out there. According to a report out of Korea, Samsung is urging employees as well as its suppliers to be extra careful of possible leaks of its confidential business information.

Samsung is calling on its employees to improve security and ensure that leaks are prevented. “Leaks of operational secrets can cause irreversible ramifications, posing a great financial risk on the company and leading to broken partnerships and loss of trust,” it said in an email. An official from one of Samsung’s suppliers is quoted as saying in the report that the company is pressing them to ensure that there are no leaks about the Galaxy S8. “Samsung has notified its suppliers not to mention a single word on the Galaxy S8,” said the unnamed official.

On the management front, Samsung is having to deal with activist investor hedge fund Elliott Associates which has called for Samsung Electronics to be split up into two aside from additional restructuring measures. Even though it’s likely that Samsung will work with the hedge fund this time, it will do so on its own terms, which is why it’s imperative for the company that secrecy be maintained. Samsung is also in the midst of the eventual succession of vice chairman Lee Jae-yong to chairman, a post that he will take over from his father, current Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee.

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Facebook Messenger will soon be launched for the LTE variant of the Samsung Gear S3

The app catalog for Samsung’s smartwatches has been rising slowly and steadily. Twitter and Uber apps were available since the release of the Gear S2 last year, and Spotify’s smartwatch app was launched alongside the Gear S3. Now, the company might be planning to release the Facebook Messenger app for the Gear S3. This might be a result of Samsung’s close partnership with Facebook.

We’ve spotted an image which claims that the Facebook Messenger app will soon be launched for the LTE variant of the Gear S3. The app will reportedly be launched first in Malaysia, but there’s no information if or when it would be launched in other markets. Apparently, the app will allow users to instantly reach their Facebook friends for free. It could mean that carriers won’t charge for the data consumed by Gear S3 LTE owners while they use the Facebook Messenger app.

Samsung and Facebook-owned Oculus have been working together for the past couple of years to bring virtual reality to the masses using the mobile VR headset Gear VR.

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