Samsung-made circuit board might power the iPhone 8′s OLED display

It has been rumored time and again that Apple is going to shift to OLED displays for the iPhone and given that Samsung has a strong position in the mobile OLED market it’s going to be the one supplying its rival with the display panels. A new report out of South Korea claims that Korea-based suppliers BH and Interflex have ramped up production of flexible printed circuit boards that Apple is going to use for the iPhone 8. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is believed to be in talks with Apple regarding this as well.

All three of these companies are suppliers of Samsung Display – the conglomerate’s display affiliate – and it’s widely believed that Samsung Display will provide the bulk of OLED panels for the iPhone 8. According to the report, up to 70 million units of the flexible circuit board that’s going to power the display are going to be shipped next year. Parts and components from all three of these companies will reportedly be assembled at Samsung Display’s OLED module plant in Vietnam before they’re shipped to Apple.

Since Apple and Samsung don’t comment on supply chain matters it goes without saying that this report won’t see an official denial or confirmation so you shouldn’t keep your fingers crossed. The next iPhone isn’t due until the fall next year.

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Report: Samsung Galaxy Note 7′s aggressive internal design led to explosions

Samsung promised that it would announce the results of its investigation regarding battery problems in the Galaxy Note 7 later this month. However, Instrumental, a company that makes engineering tools, took upon itself to find the cause of fire and explosions in the Galaxy Note 7. According to the Instrumental’s examination of the Galaxy Note 7, the primary cause of the problem wasn’t with the battery itself, but the aggressive internal design of the Galaxy Note 7. The firm found out that the phablet’s design could compress the battery even during normal operation.

The Note 7′s battery is a flattened “jelly-roll” that consists of a positive layer made of lithium cobalt oxide, a negative layer made of graphite, and two electrolyte-soaked separator layers made of polymer. If the positive and negative layers come in contact with each other, it typically results in an explosion (or fire). Samsung said that these layers could have been too thin due to aggressive manufacturing parameters. It looks like Samsung was trying to fit in a large capacity battery into a thin design, leaving tiny room inside the battery casing, which led to explosions.

This could be due to Samsung’s effort to make sure that the Galaxy Note 7′s battery life was longer than that of the Galaxy Note 5 without making it physically larger. With this intent in the mind, Samsung could’ve pushed the boundaries too much for it to be safe for consumer in the end. The company had to run full-page ads to apologize the consumers for the Galaxy Note 7.

While we were doing the teardown, Sam wondered, “Samsung engineers are smart.  Why would they design it like this?”  The answer isn’t a mystery: innovation means pushing the boundaries. - Instrumental

 

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Gear S2 gets loads of features from the Gear S3 in latest update

Samsung today confirmed that it’s releasing the second Gear S2 Value Pack update which brings over loads of features from the Gear S3 to the Gear S2. This update brings additional customization options for the Gear S2 as users will now be able to download and use the Gear S3′s preloaded watch faces via the Galaxy Apps store.

The Gear S2 also gets support for the new Reminders app and the Alti-Barometer app introduced with the Gear S3. The update also enhances the rotating bezel’s functionality by enabling users to accept or reject calls, dismiss alarms, timers and alerts with just a twist of the bezel. A clockwise turn answers or acknowledges a call or alert while a counterclockwise turn rejects it.

Gear S2 gets the new Handwriting Mode with this update which has support for superimposed writing. Users will now be able to scrawl messages on the smartwatch itself in English, Korean or Chinese without having to wait for each letter to be converted into text. Users can also sketch, send emoji and even dictate texts of the go.

S Health has been updated as well to automatically recognize more activities such as walking, running, cycling, elliptical, and more. High-intensity activities will now be logged as “Other Workouts.” The Gear S2 can automatically count reps for gym-standard exercises like star jumps, lunges, squats and more now. The new Auto Pause feature will automatically suspend tracking if a user needs to stop mid-exercise. The tracking functionality resumes automatically when the user gets going again.

Support for third-party widgets from the likes of USA Today, Uber and Yelp is included in this update as well. There are new and improved widgets for contacts, weather, S Health and more. The new Gear S2 update improves safety and security as well by providing support for location tracking. Users can initiate an SOS alert by pressing the Gear S2′s home button three times, their designated contacts will then automatically receive their location via Glympse.

Last but not the least, the update also provides Gear S2 users access to smartwatch games on the Galaxy Apps store, including titles like Monster Vampire and Stack, currently there are more than 100 titles available for the smartwatch on the Galaxy Apps store.

This update bearing Tizen version number 2.3.2.1 and weighing at just over 133MB has been launched in major markets today and Samsung says that it’s going to be available worldwide in the coming weeks.

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New Good Lock app update brings improvements and bug fixes

It has almost been a year since Samsung launched the Good Lock app on the Galaxy Apps store. It’s a powerful lock screen app for Samsung devices that puts a lot of functionality on the home screen as well as in the notifications panel. Samsung has released an update for Good Lock which brings a handful of improvements as well as a plethora of bug fixes.

The latest version of Good Lock includes interoperability with the latest version of Samsung Pay. It also supports the clear all notifications button as well as the Blue light filter for the Galaxy Note 5. The update fixes lock screen background image issue in landscape mode, app launch mobile hotspot setting and SystemUI restart issues. The vibrate icon has been changed while the notification background color has been enhanced with this update.

All this and more is included in the latest version of the Good Lock app for select Samsung devices. You can download the updated app right now from the Galaxy Apps store. It’s also available as a free download from our APK archive.

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Latest Galaxy A5 (2016) update patches ‘critical flaw’

Samsung released a new firmware update for the Galaxy A5 (2016) late last month which brought the November security patch. A new update weighing in at 128MB is now being rolled out for the Galaxy A5 (2016) in a handful of markets across the globe. The changelog mentions that the latest update brings a patch for a “critical flaw,” but it doesn’t explain what this flaw is.

You would be wrong to assume that this update includes the December security patch because it doesn’t. Samsung hasn’t even detailed the latest Security Maintenance Release and it hasn’t made its way to any of the company’s devices as yet. This update retains the November security patch and basically just takes care of the “critical flaw” mentioned in passing in the changelog.

This update has already been rolled out across a handful of countries in Europe and Africa. The rapid rollout suggests that the flaw might have been quite serious which prompted Samsung to quickly send out a new update for this device that doesn’t do much else than fixing this flaw. It’s pertinent to mention here that a similar update was released in the first week of November as well to patch another “critical flaw.”

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Samsung is now helping Canadians conquer their fears using the Gear VR

Samsung launched its #BeFearless series earlier this year. The series brings us stories of people who have used the company’s virtual reality technology to conquer their fears. Samsung has already highlighted many stories of people who have been able to conquer their fear of heights or public speaking with just a Samsung smartphone and a Gear VR headset. This initiative has now been expanded to Canada.

The #BeFearLess experience relies on the Galaxy S7 and Gear VR headset. It’s a four-week gamified VR experience developed in partnership with Facebook and Oculus. It gradually exposes users to typical situations in a controlled environment. The height module starts off from a glass elevator and progresses to a drive along a cliff. Public speaking scenarios start off with casual conversations and can go up to virtual karaoke.

“We hope this inspires Canadians to experience the global movement. Following its success in Europe, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, we’re proud to join eight other countries to help even more people realize their full potential,” said Mark Childs, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung Canada.

Those who want to join this “movement” in Canada can visit Samsung’s website to get more information on how to join. The #BeFearless demo modules will be available at Samsung Experience Stores across Canada.

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Samsung in no mood to pay additional compensation to Galaxy Note 7 owners

A class action lawsuit was recently filed against Samsung in South Korea by 2,400 consumers who claimed additional compensation for the troubles that the Galaxy Note 7 caused them. Five individual Galaxy Note 7 users filed their own lawsuits against Samsung in the country and made a similar argument. They have also claimed that they suffered respiratory diseases as well as physical damage such as burns due to their Galaxy Note 7 catching fire. Samsung has hired law firm Lee & Ko to respond to these claims and it’s pretty much fed up with the legal challenges from Galaxy Note 7 customers.

The class action lawsuit wants Samsung to pay 500,000 won ($426) to compensate for the time and money these 2,400 consumers spent replacing and exchanging the Galaxy Note 7. The five individuals who have sued Samsung are asking for 42 million won ($3,580) in damages combined as compensation for physical and mental shock caused by the Galaxy Note 7 exploding.

“We gave enough compensations and benefits to Note 7 consumers. The damages consumers are claiming are within the range that is endurable,” local news reports reveal Samsung’s point of view on the matter submitted to the court last week. Samsung has already given a 100,000 won ($86) mobile coupon as well as the option to upgrade the Galaxy Note 7 to the unreleased Galaxy S8 at half the price to customers in South Korea. It believes this is enough compensation for any and all troubles caused by the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung also adds in its statement that “We recalled all the products resulting in a loss of nearly 10 trillion won in order to minimize risk that consumers may face.”

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