Samsung launches attractive cashback offers on Neo QLED & lifestyle TVs

Samsung’s new Neo QLED TV series is set to usher in a new era of breath-taking TV picture quality, or at the very least, this is one of the ways in which the company is describing its latest smart TV lineup. It was first unveiled at CES and fully announced in early March, and so far it’s been released in numerous key markets including the UK.

Samsung has now launched a promotional period in the UK wherein Neo QLED TV customers can get up to £500 cashback when purchasing one of the latest lifestyle TVs or a model from the Neo family. The rule of thumb is that the larger the display, the bigger the cashback value, so TV models like the 50-inch QN90A / QN94A and the smaller Serif and The Frame (32-to-50-inch) are now accompanied by a £100 cashback.

In the meantime, Samsung is offering £200, £300, £400, and £500 cashback on 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch, and 85-inch Neo QLED and lifestyle models, respectively. The offer is valid until May 4 at Samsung’s online shop as well as selected retailers.

The cashback offer is available to customers in the UK and Ireland. Cashback claims have to be submitted within 60 days from the date of purchase, and there’s a limit of two claims per participant. You can refer to the official cashback deals page for more details.

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Galaxy S20 series now receiving April 2021 security update

The Galaxy S20 series started receiving the April 2021 Android security update this week, not long after Samsung began deploying it across the board. Identified by version number G98xxXXS7DUC9, the new software release has first been spotted in Germany this Tuesday. We’re still waiting for the package to make its way to more countries, but that’s bound to happen any moment now.

In the meantime, you can check whether the update is already available in your territory by launching the system Settings app, then navigating to its Software update section and the bottom and picking the Update and install option on the final interface.

What’s new in this month’s OTA?

Alternatively, there’s a mirror of a complete system image pre-loaded with the new update that you can download from our firmware archives. Give it a few days and there should be dozens of them, as per usual. They provide experienced tinkerers with everything they need to flash the April 1st security patch to their Galaxy S20-series devices manually. But no amount of experience will make up for the data you could lose if you forget to back up your internal storage prior to the installation and something goes wrong in the process. So, don’t let that happen to you and always make backups of everything.

Based on the package designation, we can confirm that this particular update doesn’t bring any other features or improvements beyond the stated fixes aimed at addressing various security vulnerabilities in the Android OS and Samsung’s in-house implementation thereof. But there’s quite a few of those this time around; Samsung itself said as much, albeit indirectly, via its latest security bulletin published just yesterday.

Galaxy S20

• Model: SM-G980F
• Dimensions: Bar: 151.7 x 69.1 x 7.9 mm
  
• Display: 6.2 inch / 157.48 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Exynos 990
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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Samsung could be in trouble as Qualcomm and TSMC join forces

The pandemic has had a significant impact on the chip market. It’s now witnessing a global chip shortage the likes of which have never been seen before. Even though the major players in the industry are taking steps to improve the situation, the shortage is far from over.

Qualcomm may be one of the biggest suppliers of mobile chipsets but it’s entirely dependent on third-party manufacturers. The company doesn’t have its own production facilities so it has to secure manufacturing capacity at companies like Samsung and TSMC. Its latest deal with TSMC could spell trouble for Samsung.

TSMC grants an unprecedented favor to Qualcomm

Qualcomm has had its high-end chipsets manufactured by both Samsung and TSMC. It chose the latter for the 2019 and 2020 chips but returned to Samsung for the Snapdragon 888. It was reported last month that Qualcomm would also have its next-gen flagship processor manufactured by Samsung, despite rumors that it may shift back to TSMC.

It’s not just the lack of available manufacturing capacity that’s causing problems in the chip market. Packaging substrates and wafers are also in short supply. All of these issues are making companies evaluate their strategies so that they don’t face any business disruption down the line.

Industry sources are now reporting that TSMC and Qualcomm are taking a big step to further cement their relationship. Despite the strain on its manufacturing capacity, TSMC has agreed to manufacture a batch of high-end 5G chips for Qualcomm on priority. Precisely what chips TSMC has decided to accommodate remains unknown but it’s clear that this would be an unprecedented favor that the Taiwanese manufacturer would be extending to Qualcomm.

Has that favor been done at Samsung expense? Could this mean that Qualcomm would ultimately have its next-gen flagship chipset made by TSMC as well? Even if that’s not the case, Samsung may also struggle to secure enough chipsets from Qualcomm for its new flagships next year.

The chip shortage has already forced Samsung to cancel the Galaxy Note 21. Since it maintains an Exynos/Qualcomm split among its flagships, lack of adequate supply from Qualcomm might also force Samsung to adjust its product lineup in 2022.

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SamMobile Weekly Giveaway: Power up with a free Wireless Charger Duo!

Wireless charging is a great feature that provides a lot of conveniences. Do you know what’s better than wirelessly charging one device? Charging two at the same time! That’s what Samsung’s Wireless Charger Duo lets you do.

Enter our latest SamMobile Weekly Giveaway for a chance to win the Wireless Charger Duo from Samsung. It’s a great accessory that supports up to 12W fast charging.

The winner of our latest giveaway will be announced on April 14, 2021. All SamMobile members across the globe are eligible to participate. Simply follow the instructions in the widget below to submit your entry.

Samsung Wireless Charger Duo international giveaway!

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[Result!] SamMobile Weekly Giveaway: Get a free Galaxy Tab A7 (2020)!

We’re switching things up in our latest SamMobile Weekly Giveaway. Enter now for a chance to win a free Galaxy Tab A7 (2020). The Wi-Fi variant of this capable tablet, to be precise.

The Galaxy Tab A7 (2020) was launched primarily as an affordable media consumption tablet. As we mentioned in our review of the device, it’s perfect for watching videos, casual gaming and browsing.

As always, our giveaway is open for everyone. Simply use the widget pasted below to submit an entry. The winner of this SamMobile Weekly Giveaway will be announced on April 7, 2021.

Result: Congratulations, Vitaliy Vynarchyk for winning the Galaxy Tab A7 (2020) this week! For everyone else, we have the Samsung Wireless Charger Duo up for grabs in next week’s giveaway. Don’t forget to enter!

Galaxy Tab A7 international giveaway!

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Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs use MediaTek’s Wi-Fi 6E chip

Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs, which were unveiled during the company’s CES 2021 event earlier this year, use the Mini-LED backlighting technology for improved image quality. They also feature a faster processor for better performance, built-in multi-channel speakers for immersive audio, and Wi-Fi 6E for faster wireless connectivity.

The South Korean firm has now confirmed that its flagship Neo QLED TVs—QN900A and QN800A—use MediaTek’s Wi-Fi 6E chip. The MT7921AU connectivity chip features Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. It can reach peak Wi-Fi speeds of up to 1.2Gbps (provided that users have a Wi-Fi 6E router and sufficiently fast internet connectivity) by using the 6GHz spectrum to offer seamless 8K video streaming. Bluetooth 5.2 brings a wider range, faster data transfer speeds, and native support for truly wireless earphones and higher quality wireless audio codecs.

Samsung was the first brand in the world to introduce a Wi-Fi 6-equipped TV last year, and it became the first in the world to launch a Wi-Fi 6E TV. Similarly, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is the world’s first smartphone to feature Wi-Fi 6E connectivity. With the Wi-Fi 6E ecosystem slowly expanding, users can experience cutting-edge wireless technology for faster data speeds and quick access to internet services such as 8K video streaming and high-resolution cloud gaming.

Jerry Yu, MediaTek Corporate Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Intelligent Devices Business Group, said, “Consumers depend on fast, reliable connectivity, whether they are using their TV for streaming, gaming, or following along with workouts. Our collaboration with Samsung has been instrumental in bringing consumers the latest smart TV technology to support these uses and beyond. With our advanced connectivity technologies integrated into Samsung’s 8K TVs, we’re driving the premium smart TV segment forward globally.“

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Samsung is closing the gap with Sony in smartphone camera sensor market

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the smartphone market marched on in 2020, which in turn helped the smartphone camera sensor market. Sony and Samsung are the two big players in the camera sensor market, and the South Korean firm appears to be closing the gap with its Japanese rival.

According to the data from market research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung was the second-biggest smartphone camera sensor brand in terms of revenue share. Samsung LSI, which makes ISOCELL camera sensors for smartphones, had a 29% revenue share in 2020. Sony, the market leader, had a 46% revenue share.

Earlier, Samsung used to have a revenue share of lower than 20%, while Sony used to control over 50% share of the market. It means that Samsung is slowly closing the gap with Sony, thanks to the launch of various high-resolution sensors and newer technologies. The company’s 64MP and 108MP camera sensors were quite popular with smartphone makers. More importantly, the South Korean firm managed to fulfill orders that Sony passed on.

The Japanese firm had placed its bet on Huawei to ship more phones, but the Chinese smartphone giant was banned to do business with American firms, resulting in a huge dip in sales worldwide. Samsung, on the other hand, supplied sensors to the likes of Motorola, OPPO, Realme, Vivo, and Xiaomi.

With the launch of the 50MP ISOCELL GN2, which is the biggest smartphone camera sensor of 2021, and upcoming sensors with 200MP (or higher) resolution, Samsung is well-placed to fight Sony. The company is also doing a great job in marketing its ISOCELL camera sensors. Samsung is also rumored to be working on a 600MP camera sensor, but it might not be intended to be used in smartphones.

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