Samsung spent $30 billion on semiconductors last year

Samsung didn’t only lead the pack in research and development expenditure last year it also retained its top spot as the world’s largest buyer of semiconductors. The latest numbers from Gartner reveal that Samsung spent $29.867 billion on semiconductors in 2015. Even though that’s massive it’s still slightly lower than the $30.989 billion Samsung spent on semiconductors in 2014. Despite the slight dip in spending it has managed to retain its top spot on the list while Apple comes in second place with $29.116 billion in 2015 as opposed to $27.177 billion in 2014.

The data shows that the top ten companies spent about $123 billion combined on semiconductors in the past year and accounted for 36.9% of the entire market with Samsung leading with an 8.9% market share. Apple came quite close with an 8.7% market share. Principal research analyst at Gartner Masatsune Yamaji says that the decline in Samsung’s spending should be considered as a big trend change. Yamaji points out that it’s more difficult for leading companies to maintain their position for a long time, “current winners may not always be the winners in the future,” he predicts.

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Samsung may not unveil the Galaxy S7 edge+ next month

Three weeks ago we exclusively revealed the screen sizes of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge, 5.1-inch and 5.5-inch respectively, aside from some of the specifications of the upcoming flagships. Recently a model of the Galaxy S7 with a 5.7-inch display was spotted online. For all we know it could be a prototype of the Galaxy S7 edge+ since most of the rumors that are floating around these days are based on prototypes after all. Word on the street is that Samsung has decided to postpone the launch of this handset, meaning that it’s only going to unveil the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge at MWC 2016 next month, the Galaxy S7 edge+ might arrive a few months later.

It won’t be surprising if Samsung launches the Galaxy S7 edge+ later this year because even though the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge were both announced at MWC 2015 in March last year the Galaxy S6 edge+ wasn’t unveiled until August 2015. Samsung is likely to formally reveal its new flagships the day before Mobile World Congress 2016 kicks off in February and according to a recent report, it may also announce a phone upgrade program with the new handsets.

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SmartThings helps parents cool down their teenager’s hormones in latest video

Teenagers and their hormones is an eternal discussion that has been going on since before the time when someone named the famous parent/child discussion “the birds and the bees.” The latest Samsung SmartThings video shows parents how to cool down their teenagers’ hormones without being aware of “the rising flame.” A father, away from his home, can turn down the temperature of the room, among other things.

Samsung’s SmartThings Hub is the company’s IoT source by which the Korean giant hopes to have consumers connect everything in their home, from thermostats to air conditioning and heating, to their Smart TV, smartphone, and even laptop computers (not to mention home appliances such as ovens, microwaves, washers and dryers). Samsung acquired SmartThings back in August 2014 and pledged to keep it open source at the time. With Samsung’s move to bring the Gear S2 to iOS, its introduction of the Windows Mobile-powered TabPro S, as well as the decision to bring its entire app collection to iOS, Samsung’s best move forward is cross-platform (and SmartThings is the center of all its efforts).

In addition to cooling down teenager hormones, the Korean giant also wants you to use SmartThings to keep an eye on your “burglar” children, help your mutt lose weight, and turn off your iron to avoid home disasters. “Now you know you know.”

Cool off your teenager’s hormones at the video and link below.

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How to boot your Samsung Galaxy device into Safe Mode

Unfortunately, it happens. You install a whole bunch of brand new apps on your smartphone and things suddenly start conflicting. Or you update your Galaxy, and now existing applications have become buggy. Or the battery drains faster than it did before. Or the camera app crashes. Or. Or. Or. Galaxy devices, like all other smartphones, are complex, and bugs can arise.

In order to determine whether a particular problem is caused by your Galaxy phone and its more fundamental software (e.g. the operating system), or by applications you yourself installed, you can run the device in safe mode. In this mode, you can test your phone as if it was a clean device without any user added apps. If your problem persists, the issue is either hardware or operating system related. If everything is fine in safe mode, the bug was likely caused by some user-installed application.

However, this article is not here to diagnose the exact problem your Galaxy device might be having. We’re here to explain how to boot your phone into safe mode. The procedure is very simple, once you know how it’s done:

• Turn off your Galaxy. Wait shortly to ensure it really has completely shut down.
• Start your phone normally by pressing the power button
• Once the device logo appears, press and hold the volume down key, don’t hold down the power button
• Hold the volume down button until the device’s lock screen appears
• Down in the bottom left corner the words ‘Safe mode’ confirm that you have successfully booted into, well, the safe mode

Also, a notification will appear telling you the safe mode is, in fact, enabled. Tap this notification to get the option to restart your Galaxy device into normal mode, once you figure out where the problem might lie. We have not specified the exact Galaxy device you can boot into the safe mode using the above outlined steps. This method works on all fairly recent Galaxy devices.

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Samsung might launch a phone upgrade program with the Galaxy S7

A new report out of Korea claims that Samsung is going to launch a phone upgrade program with the Galaxy S7 in March. It’s said that this phone upgrade program will be similar to the one Apple launched last year. The company may announce the program next month at its Mobile World Congress 2016 event, apparently Samsung will offer the program in South Korea initially before expanding it to other important markets like the United States. It was reported late last year that the company might soon start leasing its Galaxy smartphones and even at that time it was presumed that the program will just be limited to its flagship handsets.

Apple’s upgrade program covers its current flagship smartphones and offers the base iPhone 6s model for 24 equal monthly payments of $32.41, not only do customers purchase the handset directly from Apple but they also get unlocked units which give them the freedom to choose their carrier, and they also get the option to upgrade to a new iPhone after 12 months. That means by the time the next iPhone is released customers are eligible to upgrade to the new handset. Samsung’s phone upgrade plan is said to be similar so it will allow customers to purchase its flagships on low equal monthly payments with the promise of upgrade eligibility when the new flagship comes out the following year. There’s no indication as yet from Samsung to hint that it’s going to launch a phone upgrade program, it can’t be said for sure right now if it will or won’t make this announcement come MWC 2016.

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Gear S2 Rose Gold and Platinum watch faces released with new update

We announced earlier that Samsung has unveiled the Gear S2 Rose Gold and Platinum models in the US at Amazon, but Dutch customers have had their hands (or wrists, rather) on these new luxury Gear S2 models for some time. For those customers, and for those to come, Samsung has released a new update for the Gear S2, bringing two new watch faces, one each for ladies and gentlemen. These new watch faces are only for Samsung’s Special Edition Gear S2 models, according to the update, so this may be a limited rollout for customers who’ve purchased either the Gear S2 Classic Rose Gold or the Gear S2 Classic Platinum. The Gear S2 update brings the build number to BOL6 from the former AOL3 and weighs 23.16MB in size. Alongside of the new watch faces, Samsung has improved the S Health UX for measuring heart rate.

We’re glad to see Samsung push out additional watchfaces that enhance customization for these customers, but we’re anxiously awaiting the release of a new update that brings even more watchfaces for regular and special editions alike.

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Verizon and Samsung launch 4G network extender for enterprise customers

Verizon and Samsung today announced the immediate availability of the 4G LTE Network Extender for Enterprise that’s designed to improve indoor wireless coverage for enterprise customers. The network extender uses Samsung’s small cell technology to improve coverage in weak areas inside a building. It’s ideal for mid-sized locations from 10,000 to 100,000 square feet with a single unit having support for 42 concurrent users and about 31,500 square feet.

The 4G LTE network extender can prove to be very useful across multiple industries, including but not limited to hospitals, government agencies, hotels, remote operations facilities as well as massive office buildings and warehouses. “The introduction of this solution with Verizon represents our continued focus on delivering innovative LTE solutions for our customers,” said Mark Louison, Networks Division Senior Vice President and U.S. General Manager for Samsung Electronics America. These units are small, cost-effective and easy to deploy. They are immediately available to enterprise customers.

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