DBrand launches skins for the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+

Along with the fans, companies that make smartphone accessories are also gearing up for the official announcement of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ on February 25 in Barcelona. It is to be expected as the Galaxy flagship phones are only next to the iPhones when it comes to generating business opportunities for third-party accessories.

Even before the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ are officially announced or available in the market, DBrand has announced today a variety of skins for the upcoming devices. DBrand did the same thing last year as well when they launched skins for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ on March 10, before the Galaxy S8 unveiling on March 29. For those who are not aware of DBrand, it’s a Canadian company which makes skins for a wide variety of electronic devices. It is one of the more popular options out there in the market.

Adds more credibility to the leaked renders

A well-known smartphone accessory brand launching its skins for the Galaxy S9 duo adds more credibility to the recent leaks about the Galaxy S9 design. Dbrand is launching its skins for the same Galaxy S9 design we have seen in the recently leaked renders. From the looks of it, it seems there won’t be any design surprises left for the Galaxy S9 pair, and the leaked renders may well be the real deal.

dbrand: where you pay money to customize a phone that hasn't been announced yet.

Galaxy S9 skins: https://t.co/Eh33WDMsr2
Galaxy S9+ skins: https://t.co/4CGd3gaq9A pic.twitter.com/ojK86Ms1hG

— dbrand (@dbrand) January 29, 2018

As usual, DBrand is offering plenty of colors and textures to choose from. While the company’s claims about these skins adding more protection to devices are questionable, there is no denying that these skins add a bit of character and grip to otherwise slippery slabs of glass, without any of the bulk associated with cases.

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Galaxy S9 pre-orders open March 2 in South Korea, priced higher than Galaxy S8

We already know that Samsung is going to unveil the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ on February 25 in Barcelona. The company will reveal the pricing and availability details of its new flagship at the event. A new report out of South Korea possibly reveals when Samsung will open Galaxy S9 pre-orders in its home country. It also mentions that the Galaxy S9 will be priced higher than the Galaxy S8.

Galaxy S9 pre-orders

According to a new report out of South Korea, the Galaxy S9 pre-orders will start on March 2 in Samsung’s home market. All three major carriers in the country are said to offer the device. The Galaxy S9 pre-orders will reportedly be live for one week from March 2-8.

The report also mentions that the Galaxy S9 is going to be slightly more expensive than its predecessor. Samsung sold the 64GB Galaxy S8 for 935,000 won or $875 in South Korea and it’s now expected to charge between 950,000 won and 990,000 won or $890-$930 for the Galaxy S9.

As we know what to expect from the Galaxy S9, it’s not surprising to hear that it’s going to cost a bit more than its predecessor. It was never believed that the new flagship might cost the same as the Galaxy S8.

If the information in this report is accurate then Samsung will open Galaxy S9 pre-orders a week after the handset is unveiled at MWC 2018. It started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 the very next day after unveiling it on March 29. Some reports have suggested that Samsung will stick to the script for the Galaxy S9 as well.

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Bixby 2.0 may eliminate the need to say ‘Hi Bixby’ for every command

Samsung introduced its personal digital assistant Bixby last year with the Galaxy S8. The voice assistant is yet to receive a major update but as our reviews have shown, it holds a lot of promise for software that’s only in its first iteration.

Samsung introduced Bixby 2.0 three months ago at its developer conference in San Francisco, it said that this will be a “bold reinvention” of the Bixby platform. A new report out of China suggests that Bixby 2.0 will power effortless communication with Galaxy smartphones, enabling users to give one command after the other without having to say the “Hi Bixby” hotword every single time.

Bixby 2.0 may enable effortless communication with Galaxy smartphones

Say you want to ask Bixby what’s the time right now in London. You say Hi Bixby and then follow it up with the relevant voice command. Now you want to ask what’s the weather like there but right now you have to say the hotword again.

A China-based source who has been right on multiple accounts in the past claims that Bixby 2.0 will let users talk to the assistant continuously. This means that they may only have to say Hi Bixby once and will be able to effortlessly give follow-up voice commands to the assistant.

Samsung did say that Bixby 2.0 is going to transform basic digital assistants into an intelligence tool and that it’s going to feature enhanced natural language capabilities. Allowing users to constantly speak to the assistant without requiring the hotword every single time or a tap on the on-screen Bixby button is really going to make life easier for them, particularly in situations where they can’t hold the phone in their hands.

Unfortunately, Samsung is yet to reveal when Bixby 2.0 is going to be released. Today’s report doesn’t mention anything about availability as well. We’ve heard nothing so far to suggest that Samsung might introduce Bixby 2.0 with the Galaxy S9 even though it would make perfect sense for the company to do so.

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Samsung shutting down one of two production plants in Slovakia

It was reported two weeks ago that Samsung could be the first major company to exit Slovakia due to the tense situation in the country’s labor market. Employers have been concerned about the lack of workers in the country and Samsung was reportedly considering the possibility of shutting down its plants in the country in order to move production elsewhere.

Samsung has decided to close one of its two production plants in Slovakia but instead of moving production to another location, it’s simply consolidating the two plants.

Consolidating production to increase efficiency

Initial reports had suggested that Samsung was thinking about shutting down one of its two plants in the country. However, it was unclear at that time whether this was a threat to put pressure on the government or if Samsung was serious about the move.

Samsung rejected reports about relocation but didn’t rule out limiting production. It employs more than 2,000 workers combined in the two production plants that primarily make LCD TVs. The assembly plants are located at Galanta and Voderady in Slovakia.

Samsung has now said that it’s combining the two plants and that all workers at the Voderady plant will be provided the opportunity to move to Galanta on a voluntary basis with equal working conditions. The company says that it’s consolidating production facilities to “enhance its synergy and efficiency.”

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Galaxy J5 (2017) January 2018 update released

Samsung is now rolling out the Galaxy J5 (2017) January 2018 security update. The company detailed the security maintenance release earlier this month and it brings fixes for several critical vulnerabilities. The latest security patch for this handset is now being rolled out over-the-air.

Galaxy J5 (2017) January 2018 update

Samsung has already released the January 2018 security patch for several devices including but not limited to its flagship handsets like the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy Note 8. The J series handsets that have received the update so far include the Galaxy J3 (2017), the Galaxy J1 mini and the Galaxy J7 Max.

It’s now the Galaxy J7 (2017)’s turn. Samsung is rolling out the firmware update for model number SM-J530F. The update has only been released in Poland right now but it’s only a matter of time before it goes live elsewhere.

The January 2018 security patch includes fixes for five critical vulnerabilities that were discovered in the Android operating system as well as fixes for several low, moderate and high-risk vulnerabilities. There are patches for 13 Vulnerabilities and Exposures (SVE) items found in Samsung’s software as well.

Samsung is now rolling out firmware version J530FXXU2ARA2 for the Galaxy J5 (2017) in Poland over-the-air. The firmware file is also available for download from our firmware section.

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Samsung’s website possibly reveals dual-SIM Galaxy S9 for Europe

Samsung does release dual-SIM variants of its flagship smartphones but they’re only released in select markets and Europe hasn’t always been one of them. However, a support page has been spotted on Samsung Germany’s website which suggests that the dual-SIM Galaxy S9 might be launched in Europe. It’s unclear if the company will offer the dual-SIM Galaxy S9+ in Europe as well.

Dual-SIM Galaxy S9 for Europe

Samsung released the dual-SIM Galaxy S8+ in select markets by May last year and later brought it to the United Kingdom. It was also released in markets like Germany and the Netherlands by June 2017.

The company only offered a dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy S8+ and not the Galaxy S8. However, the support page that has now been spotted on Samsung Germany’s website is for a dual-SIM Galaxy S9 bearing model number SM-G960F/DS. The “DS” here denotes that this is a dual-SIM variant.

It remains to be seen if Samsung is going to offer both the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ in dual-SIM flavor or if it’s just going to be limited to the smaller model this year.

Don’t be too sure about this even though a listing has surfaced on Samsung’s own website. A similar listing was spotted on another Samsung website six months ago which suggests that the dual-SIM Galaxy Note 8 (SM-N950F/DS) would be officially released in Europe.

Samsung is going to unveil the Galaxy S9 officially on February 25. A recent report suggests that the new flagship will be released on March 16.

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Galaxy S9 may combine Face Unlock and Iris Scanner to offer an ‘Intelligent Scan’ feature

As the official unveiling of the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+ inches closer, more and more leaks are surfacing on the internet. After the alleged press renders of the upcoming devices leaked online, now a new Galaxy S9 feature called ‘Intelligent Scan’ has been outed.

APK teardown reveals a new Galaxy S9 feature

In an APK teardown of the Settings app in the latest unreleased Android Oreo beta for the Galaxy Note 8, a senior XDA member ‘mweinbach’ has found few strings relating to ‘Intelligent Scan’. Since neither the Galaxy S8 nor the Galaxy Note 8 offers any such feature currently, it is believed that the strings found in the APK teardown belong to a new feature in the Samsung Galaxy S9 series. The same XDA member has also uploaded what appears to be a Samsung help graphic for the user on how the feature works.

The brief graphic doesn’t explain much other than showing the ‘Intelligent Scan’ feature working in different lighting conditions. The feature reportedly combines face and iris scanning to improve accuracy and security even in challenging lighting conditions. It is not yet clear if this is a new authentication system altogether or an improvement to the existing Iris scan option.

The Galaxy S8 line-up already features an iris scanner for authentication. Although iris scanning is secure, it is not as quick as other authentication mechanisms already available in the market. Previous reports have suggested that the Galaxy S9 might feature a 3D sensor-equipped front camera to improve facial recognition on the handset. Perhaps this new feature will rely on the improved hardware to speed things up.

Unfortunately, there is one major drawback in manufacturer-specific authentication systems. Unlike a fingerprint reader which uses the standard Android API, Samsung-specific authentication systems have to rely on their own APIs and implementations. This means that app developers must specifically support these authentication systems to work in their apps. If the developer support for the iris scanner in the Galaxy S8 duo and the Galaxy Note 8 is an indication, it is safe to say developers are not exactly flocking to support any Samsung-specific authentication system.

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