A new 5100mAh power bank has surfaced online in both grey and blue colors with USB Type-C charging and 15W Fast Charging capabilities. The model number, EB-PG950, reminds us that the model number for the upcoming Galaxy S8 is SM-G950, seeing that Samsung’s cultural tetraphobia prevents the Korean giant from using the number “4″ in its model number listing. This new accessory confirms USB Type-C charging for the Galaxy S8 (though leaks have already confirmed this long ago).
As for the battery capacity of the Galaxy S8, whispers inside the industry have pointed to, at most, a 3,250mAh battery, though the 3,500mAh Galaxy S8+ battery that leaked last week may indicate that the S8′s battery size will remain at the Galaxy S7′s 3,000mAh capacity.
Samsung’s 5,100mAh power bank will catch on with users who can never get enough power, but third-party manufacturers will try their hand at getting some customer appeal with power banks and battery cases of their own. If you want to get a power bank that works best with your Galaxy S8 handset, though, Samsung’s official accessory is as good as it gets.
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.
In the list below, you’ll find the stories that went live today. We understand that you’re not going to be interested in all of them, so to help you find what’s important to you, we’ve split them into their respective categories. If you want to see the latest Galaxy S8 news, for example, locate the Phonessubheading.
A new image has leaked online which shows us the screen resolution adjustment menu open on a Galaxy S8. This feature was also present on the Galaxy Note 7 when it came out last year. It enables users to select with a simple slider the resolution that they want to go with.
The advantage that users get out of playing with this feature is a noticeable improvement in battery efficiency and performance since those components won’t have to work as hard as they do at the maximum resolution if it has been adjusted to a lower setting.
The leaked image shows us the Galaxy S8 screen resolution options will range from HD+ 1480×720, FHD+ 2220×1080 and WQHD+ 2960×1440. It’s quite possible that FHD+ might be the default option on the Galaxy S8 just like it is when Nougat is installed on existing Samsung devices in the interest of providing a balance between display quality and battery life.
Even if that is the case, users will be able to change it easily by accessing this menu in the Settings app. All current running apps will be closed when the resolution is changed.
Amazon has further slashed the price of Samsung’s first-generation Wireless Charging Pad. While stock lasts, you can currently pick one up for just $20.08 (60%). Best of all, the promotion isn’t restricted to the United States — so everyone with access to the online merchant can bag themselves one for the reduced price.
If you want to take advantage of this deal, hit the Buy Now Button below. It would probably be wise to hurry, though, as we don’t anticipate stock sitting on the shelves for this one as there are plenty of people out there waiting for an opportunity as good as this to score themselves new tech.
“No sir, there is no Paytm support.” “Sorry sir, it won’t work.” “Sir, this machine doesn’t support phone payment.” Those are some of the reactions I have received ever since I started using Samsung Pay at stores here in India following the launch of the payment service in an early access program. The first week was frustrating, too. Samsung Pay worked twice at my favorite restaurant, but not anywhere else.
The reason? Well, it was because I was following Samsung’s illustration in the Samsung Pay app, which says the phone should be placed on the top of the card reader/payment terminal, too literally. Most of the terminals I tried either said there was a card detection error, and a couple of machines simply blinked each time I placed the phone on them. But the second week saw me going from “meh, this thing sucks” to repeatedly telling (and annoying) my friends that I had just made another payment using Samsung Pay.
Here’s a video of a transaction I made using Samsung Pay while purchasing the Galaxy A7 (2017) (note that card detection happens instantly on most machines, especially those that aren’t wired to the retailer’s payment terminal):
My opinion changed once I realized that placing the phone against the side of the machines is what it work properly, as that is where credit and debit cards are swiped to initiate transactions (NFC-enabled machines, however, should work by placing the phone on top). I also realized that the upper half of the S7 edge is where the MST chip resides. I was trying to align the display on the card readers squarely with the center of the phone, so there were a higher number of failures than I would like to admit in the beginning.
The bigger problem was the unwillingness of a few shopkeepers to let me try paying through the phone. This was likely because very few card readers in India work on NFC. As a result, those who have tried using their banking apps at these stores would have failed to make payment, which, in turn, must have suggested to the storekeepers that paying through mobile devices doesn’t work with their payment terminals.
These stores did let me try Samsung Pay, but their lack of enthusiasm meant I didn’t try more than twice before turning away in dismay, which is why it took me an entire week to figure out the proper way of operation. Well, that and the fact that India is a densely populated country and has considerable queues in big stores, so I wasn’t willing to hold up the folks behind me just so I could try this new way of payment and possibly suffer the wrath of a few impatient shoppers.
The solution, no doubt, is educating stores and their cashiers about Samsung Pay, something the Korean giant has clearly not done at this point. Maybe it is because the service hasn’t launched for everyone yet, but it’s a step the company should be taking from the very beginning so that there are no holdups for people who do try to pay with their Samsung phone. The fact that many retailers were quick to point out that they don’t support Paytm (a popular online payment wallet in India) as they realized I was bringing my phone close to their payment terminals is the only indication we need that this is not something that will be immediately successful.
Well, at least not in a market like India, where cash payments still rule the roost, even despite the government’s recent push towards digital payments. Also an obstacle is the fact that the Samsung phones that support Samsung Pay are all mid-range and flagship devices, which don’t sell in high numbers compared to the company’s budget handsets. There have to be enough people out there trying this out to bring it to the limelight. It has been rumored that Samsung Pay could come to the Galaxy J lineup, so there is hope, and the public release of the service should also bring a positive effect.
But whatever the problems, you have to try Samsung Pay to see just how effortless it is. Samsung’s decision to support MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) was clearly a home run, as the service supports every single payment terminal/card reader out there as long as it supports credit and debit cards. I have seen cashiers at the stores I visited smile after being impressed with what I had pulled off, and the fact that I no longer have to reach for my wallet (and then put the thing back in my pocket) makes these payments a very convenient affair. It helps that most of the major Indian banks are supported already, with more to come in the future.
I’m still bringing my wallet into stores as there is always a possibility Samsung Pay won’t work, but I’m looking forward to the day I can simply carry my phone around to buy things. In fact, such a day might not be far as Samsung Pay hasn’t once failed for me in the last week. Samsung’s biggest (and perhaps only) task is to bring stores around the country up to speed. Marketing the thing out on the streets will also help, and I suppose the only reason Samsung isn’t doing that right now is that it is testing the waters before it makes a big move.
Have you tried using Samsung Pay since it went live in India? How has the experience been? Let us know by getting a conversation going in the comments!
Who says that the leaks will stop surfacing online now that Samsung has confirmed that it’s going to unveil the Galaxy S8 on March 29? The endless stream of leaked photos and videos hasn’t dried up and we don’t expect it to in the days leading up to the official announcement. A very short video has emerged out of China today which gives us a glimpse of what appears to be a working Galaxy S8.
You can see the Galaxy S8′s gorgeous display in the video and how nicely it blends with the minimal bezels that the smartphone has. The person holding the phone unlocks it by placing his finger on the fingerprint sensor that’s located at the back alongside the rear camera. He then flips it over to give us a look at the other side.
This is far from a proper walkthrough of Samsung’s new flagship smartphone but it does reiterate almost everything that we’ve heard about the handset’s design and looks so far. We just have to wait until March 29 now to find out more about the Galaxy S8.
The Galaxy C7 Pro is a pretty robust mid-range handset with its 5.7-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, 2.2GHz Snapdragon 626 processor with 4GB RAM and up to 64GB of expandable internal storage.
It even features a 16-megapixel front and rear camera as well as a 3,300mAh battery. Samsung has released it with Marshmallow in China but it may receive an update to Nougat in the not too distant future.
The FCC filing for the Galaxy C7 Pro (SM-C701F) has now been spotted. This suggests that Samsung is preparing to release the handset in markets other than China. While it’s unclear at this point in time in which markets Samsung is going to sell this handset, it’s likely that the United States might be one of them as well.
