Galaxy J3 (2017) and Galaxy J7 (2017) US brand names revealed

We’ve been hearing about the 2017 iterations of the Galaxy J3 and the Galaxy J7 for quite some time now. Previous reports have suggested that both handsets will be making their way to the United States. A new report brings us the brand names with which the handsets will be launched in the country.

The Galaxy J3 (2017) will reportedly be launched on AT&T prepaid and Cricket Wireless as the Galaxy Express Prime 2, so says @evleaks. He also claims that the Galaxy J7 (2017) is going to be available from Sprint, Boost, and Virgin soon as the Galaxy J7 Perx. The same handset will be sold by Verizon on postpaid and prepaid as the Galaxy J7 and by TracFone as the J7 Sky Pro.

The entry-level Galaxy J3 (2017) reportedly features a 5-inch 720p display, a 1.4GHz Snapdragon 425 processor with 1.5GB RAM, 16GB storage, a 5-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front camera.

The Galaxy J7 (2017) specs are said to include a 5.5-inch Full HD display with a 2.2GHz octa-core processor coupled with 2GB RAM aside from a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 3,000mAh battery.

It hasn’t been confirmed precisely when these handsets will be released in the United States.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2mmsXGn
via IFTTT

Free Bookcover Keyboard being offered with Galaxy Tab S3 pre-orders in Germany

Samsung’s new tablets had the spotlight to themselves at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona last month as the company decided against launching the Galaxy S8 at this event. It unveiled its new Android-powered flagship tablet – the Galaxy Tab S3 – and now we’re waiting for it to be released. Samsung said that the tablet would be released later in March with prices starting at 670 euro.

Samsung Germany is offering a good deal to those who pre-order this tablet until March 23rd. Those customers will receive a free Bookcover Keyboard for the Galaxy Tab S3, that’s a 130 euro saving. Samsung announced this accessory with the tablet back at MWC 2017, it adds a robust physical keyboard to the tablet and also doubles as a case.

This pre-order deal appears to be limited to customers in Germany at this point in time so it remains to be seen if Samsung will provide a similar pre-order incentive to customers elsewhere around the world.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2mH8BKo
via IFTTT

Unlocked Galaxy smartphones will now receive monthly security updates in the US

One of the reasons why people buy a smartphone unlocked and off-contract is that they want to receive firmware updates quickly since mobile carriers tend to delay updates because of the tests they run. Unlocked units also don’t have all of the bloatware that you find on carrier versions. However, many who own unlocked Galaxy smartphones in the United States have been left feeling that they’ve been handed the short end of the stick.

Take the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge for example. Unlocked variants of both handsets were released in the United States but they last received an update in December 2016 and are still on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow while almost all major carriers in the United States has already released Android 7.0 Nougat for the 2016 flagships. Carriers have even moved on to rolling out Nougat for the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge in Europe.

Jason Cipriani over at ZDNet reached out to Samsung for clarification on the company’s approach to security updates for unlocked devices in the United States. While apologizing for the inconvenience, Samsung explained that due to “various circumstances,” it has been releasing security updates for unlocked Galaxy devices in the country on a quarterly basis.

The company adds that it has now “resolved the challenges” and is now committed to releasing security updates for unlocked devices on a monthly basis. Samsung is planning to release this month’s security update for unlocked handsets soon and wants users to rest assured that the update will have all security patches to date.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2mkO0JB
via IFTTT

SamMobile Daily Recap: March 13, 2017 — Galaxy S8, Gear 360 and more!

We publish a fair few of stories on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the bulk of the news breaks during our European hours of operation, which makes it difficult for our readers in the US (and other regions) to follow every post that goes live on SamMobile. But, we think we’ve come up with a solution — a daily recap.

In the list below, you’ll find the stories we’ve published today. Chances are, you’re not going to be interested in all of them. To help you find what’s important to you, we’ve split them into their respective categories — so if you want to see the latest Galaxy news, locate the Phones subheading.

Camera

‘Next Gear 360′ possibly coming soon

Deals

Daily Deal: Save 60% on a 64GB EVO microSD card

Firmware News

Galaxy S5 Neo March security patch released

Rogers Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge Nougat update will be released on March 20

Phones

Galaxy S8 certified by China’s product quality testing agency

Galaxy S8 Plus 3,500mAh battery possibly leaked

Galaxy S8 specs and April 21 release date predicted by renowned analyst

Samsung discounts AT&T Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge by $200, throws in 128GB memory card

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 teaser was the most-watched corporate brand video last week

Samsung releases Galaxy S8 TV ad early, likely a result of impressive LG G6 sales figures

Virtual Reality

Gear VR gameplay can now be streamed to Facebook Live

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2nmmlsE
via IFTTT

Galaxy S8 launcher and app icons surface online

You may have read our what to expect from the Galaxy S8 article by now which tells you almost everything that you need to know about the upcoming flagship. However, we’ll continue to see new stuff related to the handset until it’s officially announced in a couple of weeks. One of our readers has shared some images of the Galaxy S8 launcher and updated app icons with us.

According to the reader, these screenshots of the Galaxy S8 launcher and app icons were discovered inside the APK of the latest version of Samsung’s Smart Switch application. They’re not that high quality but they do give us an idea of what to expect as far as the look and feel of the new flagship’s user interface is concerned.

The Galaxy S8 will surely be running Android 7.0 Nougat when it’s released next month. We can see that Samsung will be sticking with its clean and simple user interface that it really embraced with the Samsung Experience skin for Android 7.0 Nougat.

Samsung is due to unveil the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus on March 29.

Thanks, Durim!

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2mjq8pG
via IFTTT

Nougat update finally arriving on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge in India

Samsung is finally pushing out the long-awaited Nougat update for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge in India. As expected, the upgrade bundles all of the stock features baked into Android 7.0, in addition to a multitude of additional bug fixes, speed optimizations and stability improvements.

This news comes shortly after an identical release was distributed in Europe, following what felt like endless delays — so it’s certainly nice to see Samsung deliver on its promise to push Nougat to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, even if it is likely their last major OS upgrade.

Thanks, Alekh!

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2lSWdbA
via IFTTT

Daily Deal: Save 60% on a 64GB EVO microSD card

While stock lasts, you can bag yourself a 64GB EVO microSD card for $24.28 (60% off). That’s a fantastic price to pay for a chip that not only offers super snappy transfer speeds, but is also waterproof and resistant to extreme temperatures.

If you want to take advantage of this promotion, tap the Buy Now button. Be warned, though — Amazon only has a limited amount of inventory available for this specific deal (like usual) and it’s available worldwide, so it’ll probably go fast.

Buy Now

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2miOeRe
via IFTTT