Galaxy J2 Pro (2017) release will likely take place soon

Samsung launched the Galaxy J2 Pro last year. It’s nearly identical to the Galaxy J2 (2016) in terms of specs but does feature 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. It appears that Samsung is gearing up for the Galaxy J2 Pro (2017) release in the near future.

The handset has not only been spotted at the FCC, but its Bluetooth SIG listing has surfaced online as well. This suggests that the Galaxy J2 Pro (2017) release may not be that far off.

Galaxy J2 Pro (2017) Release

The original handset’s specs were nothing to write home about given that it was a device for the budget conscious customer. The Galaxy J2 Pro features a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1.5GHz Spreadtrum SC8830 quad-core processor. It also had an 8-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front camera. It shipped with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and a 2,600mAh battery.

The FCC and Bluetooth SIG listing for the Galaxy J2 Pro (2017) has now surfaced online. The FCC listing reveals an interesting detail about this handset. It’s going to ship with a removable battery unlike other recent models in the Galaxy J lineup.

There are no details about the handset’s specifications as yet but we can expect it to be a low-end affair. Samsung is yet to confirm when the Galaxy J2 Pro (2017) release is going to take place.

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[Poll] Should the Galaxy S9 design be similar to the Galaxy S8 or iPhone X?

There have been a lot of rumors and reports about the Galaxy S9 design recently. It’s unclear if Samsung is going to make major or minor changes to the design of its next flagship smartphone. If changes are to be made, perhaps some of you might like if the company took inspiration from some existing devices.

Galaxy S9 Design

Would you prefer the Galaxy S9 design to be similar to the Galaxy S8? That would involve minimal bezels and possibly a fingerprint sensor at the back.

Perhaps you’d prefer a notch like the iPhone X for a front-facing fingerprint sensor? Most of you said in a recent poll that you’d not prefer it.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix has also been part of this whole bezel-less trend with its super slim bezels. Some Samsung fans might want to see that on the Galaxy S9.

Vote below and let us know what you prefer. Discuss why you think a particular Galaxy S9 design change should be implemented by Samsung in the comments section.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Samsung mocks a decade of iPhones in new ad

Samsung is pretty good at mocking Apple in its ads and the company has released a new one titled “Growing Up” which mocks an entire decade of iPhones. It’s no coincidence that the ad has been released on the very weekend that Apple has released the iPhone X.

The ad highlights the journey of a longtime iPhone fan who has been buying the handset since the first one came out only to be regularly disappointed by his girlfriend’s superior Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

Mocking The iPhone

The ad touches on a pain point that many iPhone customers have experienced over the years. Since the iPhone doesn’t allow external expansion of storage, it’s pretty easy to find yourself in a position where you have to decide what goes and what stays on your iPhone. Samsung’s first appearance in this ad is in 2013 when his iPhone 5 is bested by his girlfriend’s Galaxy Note 3.

Samsung later points out that its smartphones have been water resistant and capable of wireless charging for a couple of years now, features that Apple added to the iPhone only recently. There’s even a subtle jab at Apple’s decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack.

He eventually comes to his senses and purchases the Galaxy Note 8 because that’s really what Samsung wants you to do. It’s a pretty nice ad, full marks for execution.

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Sprint Galaxy S8 Active will be launched soon

AT&T has had exclusivity over the “Active” variants of Samsung’s Galaxy S handsets but that’s set to end soon. It has been confirmed more or less that the Galaxy S8 Active will soon be launched on T-Mobile. It appears that Magenta will not be the only carrier other than AT&T to offer this handset, though.

If a new leak is believed, the Sprint Galaxy S8 Active will be launched soon as well. This only leaves Verizon and it’s as yet unknown if the largest carrier in the United States will also get this handset.

Sprint Galaxy S8 Active

The popular Twitter leakster Evan Blass a.k.a @evleaks has shared a render of what he claims to be the Sprint Galaxy S8 Active. There’s obviously nothing physically different about the device compared to the one that’s already out on AT&T.

The only difference is that it mentions Sprint as the carrier name and not AT&T or T-Mobile. This image isn’t difficult to fabricate at all but given the track record of this source, I’m inclined to believe that the Galaxy S8 Active is indeed heading to Sprint.

We’ve not seen any certifications or FCC filings for the Sprint-bound Galaxy S8 Active but they’re likely to surface soon if it’s destined for the carrier. Sprint itself hasn’t said anything to confirm or deny that it will start selling the Galaxy S8 Active in the not so distant future.

http://pic.twitter.com/XFktn7yCfr

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 4, 2017

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Galaxy S8 Android 8.0 Oreo beta: How stable is it?

Well, it’s stable enough for a beta, but it’s not perfect as a daily driver. You weren’t expecting a different answer, were you? Beta software is never without its quirks, and as we have noticed in the day or so that we have been using the Oreo beta on a Galaxy S8, there’s some work left to be done. A lot of our readers have asked how the beta works, and those who like a short answer could do without reading further.

So what’s the problem with the Oreo beta?

The bugs we have faced on the Oreo beta aren’t too significant, except for the phone randomly freezing now and then. The freezing issues don’t need a restart to be fixed, but they are part of the early Oreo experience, even on a Galaxy S8 that was factory reset before the beta was installed. There’s also an odd bug that may or may not affect folks who are using the beta. Sometimes, if we go into the system settings from inside an app and then press the back button, the phone just drops us back into the settings menu.

This can also happen when we, for example, are in WhatsApp and open the keyboard’s settings. Again, it’s an odd bug, but it’s there. One issue that’s more easily noticeable is with rendering. As you can see in the screenshot of the Always On Display settings, the interface can be messed up in some places. Maybe it’s to do with the resolution settings that Samsung offers on its flagships or just a regular issue that crops up on test versions of newer versions of Android; we’re not sure. However, we guess it will be an easy fix.

It’s not all bad, though. Our Galaxy S8 is now running faster and smoother than it was on Nougat. It remains to be seen if the phone will slow down after a few months of usage, but right now, it’s a joy to use the phone as far as general performance is concerned. Well, at least until it freezes, which is when we’re reminded there’s some ways to go before the stable version of Android 8.0 Oreo rolls out to users.

Before that happens, there will be a few updates to the beta, which will fix current issues and no doubt introduce new ones. As we said before, it’s only been a day since we have had access to the data, so it’s likely we haven’t discovered all the problems in the first beta. We’ll keep looking, and in addition to updates on its stability, we’ll keep reporting on all the new features and changes that Oreo introduces.

Have you managed to enroll in the Android 8.0 Oreo beta? If yes, what has your experience been like? Any major bugs or issues affecting your Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+? Let us know by leaving a comment!

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SamMobile Daily Recap: November 3, 2017 — Galaxy S6, Gear 360 (2018) and more!

We publish a lot of stories on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the majority of news breaks during our European hours of operation, which makes it difficult for our readers in the US (and other regions) to keep up. However, we think we’ve come up with a fantastic solution — a daily recap.

Here’s what we covered today.

Bixby

Latest Bixby update completely kills the Bixby key if it is disabled

Camera

Patent allegedly surfaces for next-generation Gear 360

Firmware News

Verizon-branded Galaxy S6 now receiving October security update

General

Here are the winners of our Galaxy Note 8 and Gear Sport giveaways

Phones

Galaxy Note 8 sales cross one million units in South Korea

Samsung was the smartphone market leader in Q3 2017

Polls

[Poll] Hey Samsung, how about a currency converter in your calculator app?

TV

Samsung starts selling the 43-inch Frame TV

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Here are the winners of our Galaxy Note 8 and Gear Sport giveaways

The SamMobile premium giveaway winners have been selected for the last two months. What was the prize and who won? We gave away a Galaxy Note 8 and a Gear Sport for the last two months, and the usernames of the lucky winners are listed below. Please don’t forget to check your email if you’re one of the winners; contact us through our contact page if you haven’t received an email.

For the month of November, we shall be giving away a Gear Sport smartwatch once again, so make sure you sign up for our premium memberships to be able to take part in the giveaway and get a host of other benefits! You enter the giveaway automatically if you’re a premium member, so there’s no need to manual entry.

Device	Winner
Galaxy Note 8	Mja00a
Gear Sport	joan2109

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