Samsung Galaxy A3 and A5 priced in the Netherlands, expected to arrive in Q1 2015

Samsung’s new all-metal Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 are important devices for the company, but it has been unable to launch the two devices on time thanks to production issues that come with trying to make full metal phones for the first time. The Galaxy A5 is already available in China and is expected to be followed by the A3 sometime this year, but Samsung has given no official word on when the two devices will make their way to other markets. But a statement given by Samsung to Android Planet is offering some details on that front, along with concrete info on the price.

According to Android Planet, the Galaxy A3 and A5 will be launched in the Netherlands sometime in the first quarter of 2015, with local retailers like GSMWijzer expecting stock in January. The Galaxy A5 is priced at EUR 410, while the Galaxy A3 is priced at EUR 310 – those aren’t bad prices for the hardware on offer, though some will rightly point out those aren’t the best either. As for other markets, it’s possible the entire European region will get the devices sometime in the first quarter, though it’s likely a release will be limited to selected countries given the production issues that Samsung is facing.

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JK Shin retains mobile chief position as Samsung announces management reshuffle

It looks like rumors of Samsung’s management reshuffle were true, as the company has officially announced changes in its mobile and other divisions. Unlike what the rumors said, current mobile chief JK Shin will retain his position despite leading a smartphone division that saw considerably reduced profits over the last year, a step the company is said to have taken in order to keep some consistency instead of making big changes. The extent of this year’s reshuffle was the smallest in recent years, though more changes are expected to be announced next week.

Hong Won Pyo, who was president and head of the Media Solution Center within Samsung’s mobile business, will now lead Samsung’s global marketing. While Samsung is in dire need of changing its overall mobile strategy, advertising will still remain an important part, especially as the company introduces new device lineups like the Galaxy A series and the upcoming mid-range series of devices following a single-letter naming convention.

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Exclusive second preview: Android 5.0 on Galaxy S4 brings updated widgets and more

It goes without saying that many Android users who own Samsung devices are anxiously waiting for the company to start releasing Android 5.0 Lollipop update. Unfortunately Samsung has not confirmed the roadmap up till now so there are no concrete release dates available for Lollipop. What can be said for sure though is that many of the company’s recent devices will be updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop at some point in the future.

In case you have been wondering what Android 5.0 on Galaxy S4 looks like, we already provided you with the first ever exclusive preview of Lollipop on this device. Even though the internal build was riddled with bugs we tested it out and gave you an exclusive look at the new optimized TouchWiz UI.

The user interface looks more or less the same as Android 5.0 Lollipop on Galaxy S5, which we have also exclusively previewed. Samsung brought over the latest flagship’s launcher with My Magazines and Popping Colors lockscreen effect to the Galaxy S4, while the improved TouchWiz also brings an overhaul for the look and feel of proprietary system applications.

This is the second internal build that we have received and it shows some of the improvements that Samsung has made over time. There are updated home screen widgets as well as settings toggles, making it easier for users to access essential options in just a few taps.

We cannot leak the build right now due to safety reasons but that doesn’t stop us from showing off the new build to you on video. Samsung has evidently made improvements to Android 5.0 Lollipop for Galaxy S4 and its bound to get even better as the release draws near.

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Milk Video launched, will make it easier to find viral videos on Samsung devices

Less than a year ago Samsung jumped into the world of music streaming by launching the oddly named service Milk Music. Today its expanding Milk’s presence over to video. The aptly named Milk Video has been announced today. its a new service which is going to make it easier for you to search viral videos from your Samsung device. This service is initially being launched in the U.S. only.

The Milk Video streaming service isn’t a Netflix or Amazon Instant Video competitor. It brings in content from a variety of partners which include College Humor, Cracked, Buzzfeed, Funny or Die, Vice, Vanity Fair and many others. Most videos available will be up to eight minutes however some videos might be as long as 20 minutes, that really depends upon the content provider.

It is possible to follow other Milk Video users to see their favorite vidoes. Sharing options include the ability to email links to videos, star links and even share them to Facebook from within the app.

Milk Video is exclusive to Samsung Galaxy devices and available only to users in the U.S. The app is now live in the Google Play Store.

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Galaxy Note 4 display trumps rivals in color accuracy

It goes without saying that the Galaxy Note 4 display is really good but DisplayMate went one step further and pitted it against some of the handset’s rivals. The result is unsurprising. Samsung Galaxy Note 4′s display has trumped its rivals as far as color accuracy is concerned.

DisplayMate put the Galaxy Note 4, Surface Pro 3, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 through a series of color accuracy tests in a bid to find out which of these displays reproduce colors most faithfully. These devices were then ranked according to color gamut, organic colors, facial skin tones as well as blue reproduction from cyan to magenta.

The table clearly shows that Galaxy Note 4 display performed the best of all, and only the Surface Pro 3 and Galaxy Tab S could match it in the blue color accuracy test. It scored more on skin tone and white point tests as opposed to the competition.

This goes to show that Samsung has done an incredible job with the display for Galaxy Note 4, and its certainly one of those things that’ll draw customers towards this device.

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Samsung’s Black Friday deals include discounts on 167 products

Black Friday is a little over a week away, and Samsung has started taking pre-orders for products that it will be putting up for sale as part of its Black Friday deals. A total of 167 items will be discounted, with discounts ranging from as high as $3,000 to as little as $10. Those $1000+ discounts are mostly available on Samsung’s new TVs, while devices like the Gear Fit and the Galaxy Tab 4 series will be priced at around $50 less as part of the deals. The company is taking pre-orders for all devices right now, but will not charge consumers’ credit cards before November 24th.

Head over to the source link to find the full list of devices.

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Exclusive: First look at Samsung’s low-end Tizen interface, more details on SM-Z130H

Two months ago, SamMobile spilled beans on Samsung’s upcoming low-end Tizen device (SM-Z130H), but at that time we only had a few details about the device. A week ago, the device’s User Agent Profile (UAProf) went online on Samsung’s website, which confirmed a few details we leaked earlier. Today, we have received new information about the device, and have also received a system dump of Tizen 2.3 OS from the device.

Internally, SM-Z130H is codenamed KIRAN. We aren’t aware of the official name just yet. KIRAN sports a WVGA (800×480) TFT LCD display panel, a dual-core Spreadtrum SC7727S CPU with a clock speed of 1.2GHz, ARM Mali-400 GPU clocked at 460.8MHz, 512MB RAM, 3.2 megapixel main camera sensor with an LED flash, and a 0.3 megapixel front facing camera.

Connectivity-wise, the device features Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Wi-Fi Direct, and a microUSB 2.0 port for charging and syncing the device. The device has dual SIM support, and also features an FM radio as well. KIRAN packs an accelerometer too — the only sensor available on the device.

Now let’s talk about the software. Thanks to the system dump, we were able to extract icons, lockscreen themes, and the default wallpaper; check them out in the gallery below. As you can clearly see, Samsung is making Tizen’s UI look a lot like its TouchWiz interface on Android. Samsung has also ported some special features from Android to Tizen including Private Mode and Ultra Power Saving Mode. Facebook, Twitter, and a few Google services and applications will come pre-loaded on the device as well. And, knowing Samsung, it will make sure that top applications make their way towards Tizen.

Based on the information we have received, KIRAN is an entry-level device with low-end hardware. Initially, the device will only come to India; information on other markets is currently unknown. KIRAN is Samsung’s answer to Google’s Android One initiative, and it will definitely be a hard sell for the Korean giant.

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