Amazon India teases new Galaxy On smartphone, possibly a Galaxy J7 Pro variant

Amazon India has started teasing the launch of a new smartphone in Samsung’s Galaxy On lineup of handsets that the company sells solely through online retailers. Galaxy On smartphones have always been rebadged Galaxy J series phones, and judging from the teasers about “new ways to shop” and “superior performance” on Amazon’s landing page, the new device could be a renamed Galaxy J7 Pro.

New Galaxy On smartphone likely to be renamed Galaxy J7 Pro

The Galaxy J7 Pro is the only handset in Samsung’s budget lineup with support for the complete version of Samsung Pay, so the new Galaxy On being teased isn’t likely to be the Galaxy J7+ as some are speculating. There’s no clear hint about a dual camera setup, either, which is the highlight feature of the J7+. Furthermore, it simply makes more sense to rename an existing device and make it a part of the Galaxy On series instead of launching a new phone, especially one that hasn’t been released for offline sale in the country.

Amazon India isn’t telling us when the device will be launched, only saying that it is “coming soon.” As with previous Galaxy On phones, this one should be slightly cheaper than its regular Galaxy J counterpart, possibly with an upgrade in the RAM or storage departments. We’ll know more when the device goes official; you can sign up to be notified once that happens by visiting the source link.

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Samsung doesn’t slow down phones that have older batteries

After many users noticed that old iPhones with low-capacity batteries were slowing down, Apple officially confirmed that it does indeed slow down older iPhones with naturally degraded batteries. The company has been hit with multiple lawsuits over this and has now even issued an apology.

People are naturally wondering if other smartphone manufacturers do this as well. Samsung has confirmed that it doesn’t slow down smartphones with older batteries.

The curious case of throttled iPhones

It had long been a conspiracy theory that Apple intentionally slows down older iPhones to get customers to buy a new one. In light of recent reports that contained sufficient evidence, Apple confirmed that it does do this but offered a different explanation.

Smartphone batteries output less power as they become older due to natural degradation. This can lead to the device shutting down unexpectedly if the processor comes under heavy load and demands more power to ramp up speed.

Apple decided to throttle the processor speed on older devices in order to prevent unexpected shutdowns resulting from the battery’s inability to keep up. Whether or not that was the intention is another matter but it also ended up limiting how fast an iPhone can get without clarifying it to users. Apple introduced this behavior last year for the iPhone 6, 6S and SE.

Apple’s top rival Samsung has confirmed that it doesn’t do this. The company has categorically said that it doesn’t reduce CPU performance through software updates over the lifecycle of a smartphone. It has sent out the following statement:

Product quality has been and will always be Samsung Mobile’s top priority. We ensure extended battery life of Samsung mobile devices through multi-layer safety measures, which include software algorithms that govern the battery charging current and charging duration. We do not reduce CPU performance through software updates over the lifecycles of the phone.

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Samsung releases December security patch for the Galaxy A7 (2017)

The December security update is gradually making its way to more devices. It was released for the 2016 and 2017 models of the Galaxy A3 just yesterday. Samsung has now rolled it out for the top-of-the-line model of its premium mid-range lineup. The Galaxy A7 (2017) is now receiving its December security patch update.

Galaxy A7 (2017) December security patch

Samsung detailed the December security patch earlier this month. It brings fixes for 11 critical vulnerabilities that were discovered in the Android operating system. Fixes for 10 vulnerabilities discovered in Samsung’s own software are included as well.

There’s not much in the way of new features to be expected from this update. It’s a security maintenance release that’s primarily meant to address security issues and that’s pretty much all that it does.

Samsung is now rolling out firmware version A720FXXU2BQL9 for the Galaxy A7 (2017) in Mexico. Owners can check to see if the update is available for them by heading to the Download updates manually option in the Software update menu of the Settings app. It may take a while for the update to become available in all regions, shouldn’t be more than a few days.

The update is also available for download from our firmware section.

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Samsung will unveil Galaxy S9’s Exynos processor on January 4

Qualcomm officially announced the Snapdragon 845 three weeks ago. Its latest flagship mobile processor is based on the same 10nm process as its predecessor. The Snapdragon 845 will likely power the North American, South American and Chinese variants of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+.

The handsets will be powered by Samsung’s latest Exynos processor in other markets. Samsung is going to officially unveil its latest high-end Exynos processor on January 4. According to previous reports, it’s going to be called the Exynos 9810.

Galaxy S9’s Exynos processor

Samsung is teasing its next Exynos processor through the official Samsung Exynos Twitter account. The tweet mentions that this processor “goes beyond a component.”

It’s possible that this is a subtle hint to the advanced artificial intelligence capabilities of the new chip. Some reports have even suggested that it may have dedicated cores for artificial intelligence tasks but nothing is known for sure right now.

Samsung is going to announce its new flagship Exynos processor on January 4, 2018. The Galaxy S9 is going to be the first device to tout it. Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S9 at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in February. The handset will likely be released at some point in the following month.

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December security patch update arrives on Galaxy A3 (2016) and A3 (2017)

Samsung is pushing out updates to a multitude of devices this week, and the latest devices to receive an update are the 2016 and 2017 models of the Galaxy A3, the smallest of Samsung’s premium mid-range phones that the company didn’t upgrade for the 2018 lineup. The update brings the December security patch to both devices; there’s nothing else of importance on offer, at least not in terms of user-facing features.

Galaxy A3 (2016) and Galaxy A3 (2017) owners can see if the update is available for their device by tapping the Download updates manually option in the Settings » Software update menu. The update will take time to propagate to all regions, so if it isn’t already available in your country, be sure to check again in a few days. It’s possible not every country will see an update with the December patch, as Samsung doesn’t release regular updates for non-flagship devices. In that case, you’ll just have to hold out until the company decides to release an update for your country with the most recent security fixes.

Thanks, Arif!

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What’s New With Android 8.0 Oreo Part 15: Automatically turn Wi-Fi on near known networks

Android 8.0 Oreo makes many significant changes to the operating system, both under the hood and in the user interface. There are also a few minor features that aren’t easy to find, especially ones that are part of stock Oreo and not exclusive to Samsung devices. One of these minor features is a new option in Wi-Fi settings that, when enabled, turns on Wi-Fi whenever the device is near a saved Wi-Fi network.

What’s New With Android 8.0 Oreo: Wi-Fi turns itself on near known networks

This works through location tracking; the device keeps track of where each saved Wi-Fi network is located. It’s a nifty feature, especially if you have ever forgotten to turn the Wi-Fi back on when you reach home after turning it off to avoid connecting to those saved public Wi-Fi networks that you don’t want to log in to. Of course, it’s also useful if you tend to turn Wi-Fi off to save battery juice when away from home or office, although the location tracking involved in making the Wi-Fi detection work is bound to negate any benefits that you’d benefit from disabling Wi-Fi.

But the feature works well, and the OS also notifies you each time it adds a particular Wi-Fi network to the list of saved networks. It’s disabled by default, and to enable it on a Galaxy S8 running the Oreo beta, you need to go into the phone’s settings, tap Connections, tap Wi-Fi, then go into advanced Wi-Fi settings by tapping the three-dot button on the top right. Here, toggle the Toggle on Wi-Fi automatically option. Naturally, keeping Wi-Fi on is recommended until the phone learns the location of your most frequently used networks.

To see more of what Android 8.0 Oreo brings to Samsung devices, check out our What’s New With Android 8.0 Oreo series.

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New Galaxy Note 8 update brings a fix for LTE data interruption

Samsung is pushing out a new update to the Galaxy Note 8 in Taiwan, bringing a fix for the issue of “intermittent interruption of LTE data.” That’s the only highlight in the changelog, and the firmware version (N950FXXU2BQKG) hasn’t changed from the last time, so this looks to be just a followup update. We’re not sure what kind of LTE data interruption Samsung is talking about, although we’re hoping the update fixes the problem with switching between 3G and 4G networks that at least one member of our team has been experiencing on his Note 8.

New Galaxy Note 8 update rolling out

It also remains to be seen if this update will be released for all regions or stay exclusive to a few countries. For now, if you’re using a Galaxy Note 8 in Taiwan, you can see if the update is available for your phone from the Settings » Software update menu. The rollout seems to have begun a couple of days ago, so it should have reached most eligible handsets at this point. We also have the latest firmware available in our database, so you can use a PC to manually install the latest software if the update isn’t available for you over the air.

Seeing the new update on your Galaxy Note 8?

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