Samsung’s smart factory tech remains key in global coronavirus fight

Samsung is once again expanding its contributions to the global fight against the novel coronavirus strain, having most recently focused on better supporting mask manufacturers. More specifically, it shared its smart factory tech and practices with Polish producer PTAK, consequently tripling its daily output to nearly 70,000 masks, according to its own estimates. This achievement comes only three months after the company announced a similar manufacture initiative in its home country, which itself is an extension of the push toward intelligent automation it started in partnership with the Korean government two years ago.

The said program helped hundreds of Korean manufacturers improve their volume production output by over 50% on average. Scaling mask manufacture proved to be a key first step in “flattening the curve” during the original outbreak. Much like the engineering innovations it’s sharing with non-affiliated firms free of charge, the overall idea of Samsung’s war on COVID-19 is to keep fighting smarter, not harder.

$2 billion in relief efforts and counting

Samsung’s latest sustainability report saw the company officially pledge to defeat COVID-19 through a multitude of endeavors spanning nearly every industry imaginable. From improving volume production of established PPE producers and repurposing its own manufacturing lines to helping trial vaccines and educate the population on best health practices, Samsung already committed about $2 billion to a range of coronavirus relief efforts, as per the aforementioned report. Naturally, that figure includes direct donations to NGOs and health organizations, of which there have been many so far.

Samsung’s top engineering talent is likely to continue supporting manufacturers of all kinds in the coming months, especially as most of the world is now relaxing social distancing measures, thus expecting a second wave of infections by late summer.

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Galaxy Watch 3 pictures leak again, this time with the display turned on

The Galaxy Watch 3 is expected to be unveiled sometime next month, but most of its features have been leaked. We had exclusively leaked its specifications last week and then the live images of the smartwatch were revealed just one day later, thanks to NRRA certification. Now, more images of the Galaxy Watch 3 have been leaked, and this time, the display is turned on.

The Galaxy Watch 3’s app launcher and Settings menu are visible in the leaked image. All the usual Samsung stock apps seem to be are present on the device. If you can notice, the app icons for Calendar and Galaxy Store apps seem to have a slightly different design and color. This points towards a newer version of Tizen OS that could be unveiled alongside the upcoming smartwatch. The Galaxy Watch 3 also has a physical rotating bezel and two buttons on the right side.

As we reported earlier, the Galaxy Watch 3 will come in two different sizes: 41mm and 45mm. The 41mm version will have a 1.2-inch screen, while the 45mm version will have a 1.4-inch screen. Both variants will have Gorilla Glass DX protection, IP68 certification, and an MIL-STD-810G compliant design. The watch will have 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. It will run Tizen OS 5.5, and feature Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi.

Other features of the Galaxy Watch 3 include an accelerometer, heart-rate monitor, ECG, blood pressure monitoring, and sleep tracking. The 41mm version of the smartwatch will be powered by a 247mAh battery, while a 340mAh battery will power the 45mm variant. The watch will be available in stainless steel and titanium finishes.

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[Update: Now stable] Latest Samsung Internet beta brings a couple of improvements

Samsung Internet is arguably one of the most feature-packed browsers and the company does a good job of regularly rolling out new features as well. It operates a beta program for the browser so that users who want to test new features before they’re released to the public can do so.

To that end, the company today released a new version of Samsung Internet beta which brings a couple of improvements to the browser. The latest beta is out now and available for download.

New Samsung Internet beta is rolling out

As per the changelog, Samsung Internet beta v12.0.14 gives the browser the ability to open links in Secret Mode from within the context menu. It also makes it possible for more password manager apps to autofill login credentials. Last but not the least, it upgrades the Chromium web engine to v79. The latest version can be downloaded from Google Play, though it seems it’s a staged rollout so you may not immediately be able to download the update and might have to check later.

If the beta is not your cup of tea, consider trying out the stable version of Samsung Internet if you haven’t already, it received a substantial update last week. Samsung added a robust new privacy feature to protect users against Back button hijacking. It’s a tactic usually employed by shady sites on the Internet whereby when the user presses the back button, they’re redirected to some other website instead of being able to access the previous page.

The improvements that are part and parcel of today’s beta release should eventually make their way to the stable version as well.

Update: All of the features mentioned above are now available in the stable non-beta Samsung Internet app. You can download it from the Google Play Store and also from our APK archive.

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More than 100 brands now support Samsung-led HDR10+ standard

Samsung co-developed the HDR10+ standard with 20th Century Fox and Panasonic a few years ago to compete with Dolby Vision. The South Korean firm has now announced that more than 100 brands have adopted HDR10+ in their products, ranging from smartphones and tablets to TVs and AV receivers.

HDR10+ a technology that optimizes brightness and contrast of a video on a frame-by-frame or a scene-by-scene basis, and improves colors and the overall image quality. It is better than HDR10 because it can dynamically change high dynamic range metadata. It’s an open-source and royalty-free standard, unlike Dolby Vision.

HDR10+ Technology LLC was established in collaboration with 20th Century Fox and Panasonic in 2018 to expand the HDR10+ ecosystem. The firm is committed to operate and support HDR10+ certification and logo programs to compatible devices. Currently, 103 brands, including 16 display and TV makers, 21 SoC brands, 20 content producers, 32 software firms, and 14 peripheral manufacturers support HDR10+.

Some of the well-known brands that support HDR10+ with the content, displays, hardware, and software include Amazon, Amlogic, ARM, DTS, Blackmagic, Blackshark, Broadcom, HiSense, JVC Kenwood, OnePlus, Onkyo, OPPO, Philips, Qualcomm, Realme, TCL, Toshiba, Universal Pictures, Vivo, Vizio, and Warner Bros. Over 1,000 products are now certified for HDR10+ content playback.

Choi Yong-hoon, VP of Development at Samsung Electronics’ Video Display Division, said, “In just two years since we started our certification program, we have surpassed 100 member companies, and HDR10+ is an integral part of the UHD implementation, and we will continue to expand the HDR10+ ecosystem and strengthen the high-definition standard technology initiative.”

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Galaxy A11, A21s, A31, and A51 could soon be launched in the Philippines

Samsung has unveiled various Galaxy A-series smartphones over the past few months, and the company now seems ready to bring them to the Philippines. It is being reported that the South Korean smartphone giant is preparing for the launch of the Galaxy A11, Galaxy A21s, Galaxy A31, and the Galaxy A51 to the Philippines within a span of three weeks.

The Galaxy A31 and the Galaxy A51 could be launched in the Philippines on June 26, and the phones could cost PHP 14,990 and PHP 17,990, respectively. The Galaxy A11 and the Galaxy A21s could launch on July 10. They could be priced at PHP 7,490 and PHP 11,990. These phones will be available under home credit plans and could be purchased through Samsung Experience Stores and authorized dealers across the country.

Although the Galaxy A51 is already available in the country through Globe’s postpaid plans, it’s better to wait for the launch of the unlocked variant, which will come in launch bundles. Samsung will offer a 2-month subscription to YouTube Premium or a JBL Go 2 Bluetooth speaker, depending on the launch bundle you choose. These offers will reportedly be available until July 5.

Galaxy A11, Galaxy A21s specs

The Galaxy A11 features a 6.4-inch HD+ TFT display, an 8MP selfie camera, and a 13MP+5MP+2MP triple-camera setup at the rear. It runs Android 10 (with One UI 2) with the help of a 1.8GHz octa-core processor, 2GB/3GB RAM, and 32GB storage. There’s a microSD card slot, dual-SIM card slot, GPS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, a USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack. The phone is powered by a 4,000mAh battery.

The Galaxy A21s sports a 6.5-inch HD+ TFT screen, a 13MP selfie camera, and a rear-facing camera setup consisting of four cameras (48MP wide-angle, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth). The phone uses the Exynos 850 SoC, 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM, 32GB/64GB storage, and a 5,000mAh battery. There’s a microSD card slot, dual-SIM card slot, GPS, LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack.

Galaxy A31, Galaxy A51 specs

The Galaxy A31 and the Galaxy A51 use 6.4-inch and 6.5-inch Super AMOLED Full HD+ screens, respectively, and they both run Android 10 with One UI 2. The Galaxy A31 20MP selfie camera, while the Galaxy A51 has a 32MP selfie camera. They both have quad-camera setups consisting of 48MP primary sensors, 5MP macro cameras, and 5MP depth sensors, but only the Galaxy A51 can record 4K videos. Both phones have in-display fingerprint readers.

Samsung has equipped the Galaxy A31 with a MediaTek Helio P65 SoC, while the Galaxy A51 uses the Exynos 9611 SoC. The Galaxy A51 has 4GB/6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage, while the Galaxy A71 has 4GB/6GB/8GB RAM, 64GB/128GB UFS 2.0 internal storage. Both phones have microSD card slots, dual-SIM card slots, LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack.

The 5,000mAh battery powers the Galaxy A31, while the Galaxy A51 is powered by a 4,000mAh battery. Both phones support 15W fast charging.

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Samsung Blu-ray players have stopped working for many

Hundreds of users have started complaining that their Samsung Blu-ray player is not working anymore. Some users say that their Blu-ray player is on an endless reboot loop when they’re switched on, while others report that they hear buzzing noise from their players. However, no one seems to know the reason for failure.

Samsung’s Blu-ray players have reportedly started malfunctioning since Friday. The devices are either stuck in a reboot loop or stopped responding to pressing buttons. Some users have reported that they can hear a buzzing noise from the player as if it is trying to read a disk. However, there’s no disk in the player, leading them to believe that it could be an issue with the hardware.

These problems are not limited to a particular model from Samsung, which means that it could be a software-related issue. Some users say that the problem could’ve been originated with a new firmware update, but brands don’t usually release regular firmware updates to Blu-ray players, and that too for all the models on a single weekend.

The South Korean firm’s support staff seems to have no idea about the problem’s reason either, and they are claiming that the company is investigating the issue. The folks over at ZDNet claim that the problem could be related to an expired SSL certificate. These certificates are used by Blu-ray players to connect to Samsung’s servers via HTTPS, and a lapsed validity period would stop them from doing so.

With the rise of internet video streaming through apps like Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, and others, people have stopped purchasing Blu-ray players. Samsung has even stopped launching new Blu-ray players, at least in the US. This is not the first time Samsung’s devices have ruined people’s weekend plans. The Disney+ app on some smart TVs from the company is still broken.

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Weekly SamMobile Quiz 31 – Come test your Samsung knowledge!

Consider yourself a superfan of Samsung? Take our quiz and see how many answers you can get right! This is a fun activity that we do with our readers every week to test their knowledge of our favorite company. The quiz has a mix of easy and difficult questions that most fans should be able to answer without turning to Google.

We intend to make a new quiz for you every weekend so we hope that you’ll participate and learn a thing or two about Samsung in the process! Don’t forget to share the results of the quiz with your friends and see if you can outscore them. A little competition never hurt anybody!

Remember, if the quiz isn’t loading properly, please access the non-AMP version of this webpage.

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