First Galaxy Note 8 firmware available for download

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 8 on August 23 and started taking pre-orders for the handset from the very next day in select markets. The company has confirmed that the Galaxy Note 8 is going to be released in launch markets on September 15.

There have already been reports of pre-ordered handsets being shipped, at least in the United States. Those who have pre-ordered a unit only have to wait for just over a week now for their Galaxy Note 8 to land on their doorstep.

The very first Galaxy Note 8 firmware is now available for download from our firmware section. It’s for the Sprint variant of the flagship.

Firmware details:

• Model SM-N950U
• Model name Samsung Galaxy Note 8
• Country US Spint (cdma)
• Firmware Android 7.1.1
• Changelist 12038658
• Build date Mon, 07 Aug 2017 10:49:29 +0000
• Security Patch Level 2017-08-01
• Product code SPR
• PDA N950USQU1AQH7
• CSC N950UOYN1AQH7

The Galaxy Note 8 comes with Android 7.1.1 Nougat installed straight out of the box. It goes without saying that this will be among the very first devices that Samsung updates to Android 8.0 Oreo.

It’s still going to take a couple of months, though, before Galaxy Note 8 owners can get a taste of the latest iteration of Google’s mobile operating system.

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Buy one Galaxy Note 8 and get the other for free from T-Mobile

We reported last week that T-Mobile was possibly going to launch a Galaxy Note 8 BOGO deal in the near future. The carrier has now announced its buy one, get one free deal for Samsung’s new flagship smartphone.

T-Mobile customers will have to pre-order two Galaxy Note 8 units from T-Mobile on its equipment installment plan. They will have to pay a $210 deposit for each device so that’s $420 upfront. They then have to sign up for a new line of service which will be activated on the second device.

Only then will the customers be qualified to receive a rebate for the second device. This means that they will have to pay for the device but will receive a card later that will refund the entire amount.

The monthly payment for each Galaxy Note 8 is $30 and is owed to T-Mobile for 24 months. Customers will be billed the full price of the second device if they opt for early cancellation. They’ll receive a $930 prepaid MasterCard within 6-8 weeks to cover the cost of the second device.

Customers who pre-ordered their Galaxy Note 8 between August 23 to August 31 quality for this promotion as well. All pre-order customers will receive a free Gear 360 (2017) camera.

Don’t forget to read the full terms and conditions on T-Mobile’s website before you decide to opt for this promotion.

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Refurbished Galaxy Note 7 sold out in South Korea

Samsung had to recall millions of units of the Galaxy Note 7 due to battery issues. It later decided to launch a refurbished variant of the handset to limit the environmental impact of the recall. Thus the refurbished Galaxy Note 7 was announced as the Galaxy Note FE in July this year.

The Galaxy Note FE was made using leftover Galaxy Note 7 parts and unopened units of the original device. It’s essentially the same device as the Galaxy Note 7 but with one crucial difference.

It replaces the Galaxy Note 7’s 3,500mAh faulty battery with a smaller 3,200mAh battery. Its safety is guaranteed by Samsung’s new 8-point battery safety test. The Galaxy Note FE also came with Nougat out of the box.

Samsung said that it was only going to sell 400,000 units of the Galaxy Note FE in South Korea. Two months after it was launched in the country, reports suggest that the Galaxy Note FE has now been sold out in South Korea.

Samsung is reportedly not going to release any additional units in its home country and won’t manufacture any more Galaxy Note FE units.

There have been reports about a possible international launch of the Galaxy Note FE in select markets. Samsung is yet to confirm if it’s planning on doing that.

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Samsung kicks off a neat pre-order deal for the Gear Fit2 Pro in the US

Samsung has announced that it will be awarding a complimentary pair of U Flex wireless earphones (RRP $79.99) to all customers in the United States who pre-order the recently-announced Gear Fit2 Pro before September 14.

It’s worth noting, however, that the products will arrive separately; the Gear Fit2 Pro will be delivered on September 15, while the U Flex earphones won’t start shipping until the week of September 18—but that’s not such a big deal.

In line with the firm’s previous promotions, those eligible for the free gift will need to manually redeem it by heading over to a dedicated website, which will be published in the coming weeks, and entering their unique redemption code.

Related: Hands-on with the Gear Fit2 Pro

For those unfamiliar, the recently-announced Gear Fit2 Pro sports a near-identical design to its predecessor, the Gear Fit 2, with the main differences being that it features a waterproof rubber body and a traditional clasp.

To further set the Gear Fit2 Pro aside from the Gear Fit 2, Samsung teamed up with Speedo to develop a swim-tracking application that allows users to record information about their swim, including the number of lengths they’ve swum.

Stay tuned for our comprehensive review.

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Galaxy Note 8 price in South Korea might cross 1 million won

Samsung has confirmed pricing for the Galaxy Note 8 in several markets across the globe. However, customers in its home market of South Korea still don’t know how much it’s going to charge them for its new flagship. That’s because Samsung is yet to set the Galaxy Note 8 price in South Korea.

The government of South Korea wants to cut down telecom costs and that’s making it difficult for Samsung to decide on local pricing for its new flagship smartphone. It hasn’t even started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 8 in South Korea.

Samsung’s mobile chief DJ Koh previously said that the company will try to keep the Galaxy Note 8’s price below one million won or $890. He has since apologized for setting that expectation. Koh says that it will be “extremely difficult” for Samsung to keep the price below one million won.

Industry sources cited in a report out of the country suggest that the 64GB Galaxy Note 8 price in South Korea will be 1.09 million won or $962. The 256GB variant might cost 1.25 million won or $1,100.

If Samsung ends up charging these prices for the Galaxy Note 8, then customers will have to pay slightly more than the 989,800 won or $875 they paid for the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 last year.

Samsung is going to confirm the final Galaxy Note 8 price in South Korea on Thursday.

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These Galaxy devices will be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo (updated: September 4)

Not many topics keep Android users on their toes as much as big, feature-rich updates. And with the Android 8.0 Oreo update on the horizon, we are once more bombarded with questions. Will the Galaxy S8 get that update? When can I update my Galaxy S7? How about my Galaxy S6? Here we share what we know. Be smart and bookmark, since we’ll be updating this article whenever new information surfaces.

We’ll get right to the question of which device will be updated, but for now, we can not make any predictions regarding a timeline. So, for example, we can say that the Galaxy S8 will, of course, get the Android 8.0 update, but we do not yet know when. If you’re looking for all the latest news about Samsung’s Galaxy and Android Oreo, scroll down past these lists to find all headlines with related news.

These Galaxys will get Android 8.0 Oreo

• Galaxy S8 – Android 8.0 Oreo will be the first major OS upgrade
• Galaxy S8+  – Android 8.0 will be the first major OS upgrade
• Galaxy S8 Active – Android 8.0 will be the first major OS upgrade
• Galaxy Note 8  – Android 8.0 will be the first major OS upgrade
• Galaxy Note FE – Android 8.0 will be the first major OS upgrade
• Galaxy S7 – Android 8.0 will be the second major OS upgrade
• Galaxy S7 edge – Android 8.0 will be the second major OS upgrade
• Galaxy S7 Active – Android 8.0 will be the second major OS upgrade
• Galaxy A7 (2017)  – Android 8.0 will be the second major OS upgrade
• Galaxy A5 (2017)  – Android 8.0 will be the second major OS upgrade
• Galaxy A3 (2017)  – Android 8.0 will be the second major OS upgrade
• Galaxy J7 (2017)/Pro – J7 models usually get at least one major OS upgrade
• Galaxy J5 (2017)/Pro – J5 models usually get at least one major OS upgrade
• Galaxy J7 Max – Android 8.0 will be the first major OS upgrade
• Galaxy C9 Pro – Android 8.0 will be the first major OS upgrade
• Galaxy C7 Pro – Android 8.0 will be the first major OS upgrade
• Galaxy Tab S3 – flagship tablets usually get two major OS upgrades

These Galaxys may or may not get Android 8.0

• Galaxy A9 Pro – Android 8.0 Oreo would be the 2nd OS upgrade, but unsure for now
• Galaxy A8 (2016) – Android 8.0 would be the 2nd OS upgrade, but unsure for now
• Galaxy J7 (2016) – update track record unclear, already has one major upgrade
• Galaxy J5 (2016) – update track record unclear, already has one major upgrade
• Galaxy J3 (2017) – not all previous J3 models received a major OS upgrade
• Galaxy Tab S2 VE (2016 models) – update track record unclear
• Galaxy Tab A (2016 models) – update track record unclear
• Galaxy J7 Prime (OnNxt) – hasn’t yet received Nougat

These Galaxys will not get Android 8.0

• Galaxy S6 series – received two major Android upgrades before
• Galaxy S5 series – no more major OS upgrades
• Galaxy Note 5 – received two major Android upgrades before
• Galaxy A7 (2016) – received two major Android upgrades before
• Galaxy A5 (2016) – received two major Android upgrades before
• Galaxy A3 (2016) – received two major Android upgrades before
• Galaxy J3 (2016) – has not received an OS upgrade, unlikely to do so later
• Galaxy J2 (2016) – has not received an OS upgrade, unlikely to do so later
• Galaxy J1 variants – these devices usually do not receive OS upgrades

So, you ask, how do we get to these lists? Tracking Samsung’s Android updates over a long period of time, it is clear many series and devices always get two major OS upgrades, before continuing with security updates only. However, as indicated above, this rule is not firmly established for most of the Galaxy J series, nor for several other devices.

Over time, we’ll be updating the information above when we receive new information, or when it surfaces elsewhere. We have not included devices that have already stopped receiving major OS upgrades, like the Galaxy S5 or Galaxy Note 4, even if they still receive new security patches regularly. Other devices missing from this list will be added if and when we have tangible information to report.

One last thing we have to point out, is that we are, of course, not Samsung. This list is by no means based on official information and only enumerates our predictions, not Samsung’s official update policy. Should our information be proven wrong, we will update this article, but we are not responsible for your device’s updates. If you think we missed a device from the last two years, let us know in the comments and we will try to add information about that device to our list.

Samsung Galaxy + Android 8.0 update headlines

• September 4: added more devices to the list
• August 21: it’s official, Android 8.0 will be known as ‘Oreo’. We expect concrete information about the update for several Galaxy devices to surface in the next weeks.
• June 27: first list of Galaxy devices that will get the Android 8.0 update.

The post These Galaxy devices will be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo (updated: September 4) appeared first on SamMobile.

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Samsung Galaxy J7+ goes official, features a dual-camera setup

Samsung has made the Galaxy J7+ official. The phone was leaked a couple of months ago, and clearer pictures of the device last week. The Galaxy J7+ is not only the first Galaxy J series smartphone to feature a dual-camera setup, but also the first non-premium smartphone from the company with the feature. The only other Samsung phone to have a dual-camera setup is the recently announced Galaxy Note 8.

The Galaxy J7+, which has appeared on Samsung Thailand’s website, features a 5.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display with 2.5D glass covering, a metal and glass design, an octa-core MediaTek Helio P20 processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot.

The dual-camera setup consists of a 13-megapixel sensor with f/1.7 aperture and a 5-megapixel sensor with f/1.9 aperture. The combination of two sensors allows users to click images with background defocus for a more striking effect. The rear-facing camera setup of the phone can record 1080p videos. The front-facing camera on the phone uses a 16-megapixel sensor with a fixed-focus lens and screen flash feature.

The phone comes with connectivity options such as a dual-SIM card slot, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a USB Type-C port. The Galaxy J7+ comes packed with a 3,000 mAh non-removable battery. Other features of the phone include a fingerprint sensor, Always-On Display, Face Detection, Secure Folder, Dual Messenger, and Bixby Home.

The smartphone will be offered in Black, Pink, and Silver, and is priced at THB 12,900 (approximately $389) in Thailand. Pre-booking for the Galaxy J7+ has commenced in the country already, and those who pre-book the device will be eligible to receive the $75 worth Samsung U Flex wireless earphones for free.

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