Samsung Galaxy

267 'Samsung Galaxy' stories May 2011 - November 2015

See All Stories

Newest Samsung Gear VR now available to pre-order for $100

Cam Bunton Nov 10 2015 - 6:22 am PT

Back at its event in August, when it launched the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge plus, Samsung also unveiled the first consumer-focussed Gear VR headset. The ‘Innovator Edition’ tag has been dropped, and you can now pre-order the latest version of the Samsung Gear VR from Best Buy for $99. It’s compatible with all the latest flagship Samsung Galaxy products including the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5.

Samsung built the new Gear VR to be lighter and more comfortable to wear than its predecessor. It’s built with flexible padding, has an easy-to-use touchpad on the side, and ships with a 16GB microSD card loaded with 3D movie trailers and 360-degree videos to enjoy right out of the box.

Multiple companies are aiming to transform the way we view multimedia with virtual reality. Samsung partnered with Oculus to create an affordable, smartphone-powered headset, while Google developed the even more budget-friendly Cardboard. HTC went more high end with its Vive (which is yet to be released), and of course, there’s Oculus’ own-brand set among others. Even YouTube recently updated its Android app to enhance it with VR content and site-wide Cardboard compatibility.

In short, companies are seeing VR as the next step in multimedia and are betting big to make it happen. Whether or not the Gear VR becomes a lasting or memorable part of that move is yet to be seen.

Upcoming Galaxy Alpha benchmark results leak, suggest full HD screen and octa-core Exynos chip in mid-range package

Cam Bunton Nov 2 2015 - 2:06 am PT

Value for money in the smartphone industry has never been as good as it is now. As OnePlus revealed last week, it’s possible to bring specifications which we’d have considered top-tier just 12-18 months ago and sell them in a device half the price of today’s flagship phones. Samsung, it seems, is keen to follow suit with the follow up to its Galaxy A5. A benchmark result over at GFXBench suggests that we’ll see a phone — model number SM-A510F — launched by the Korean tech giant with a full HD screen…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung returns to profit growth after eight quarters, but at a cost

Ben Lovejoy Oct 29 2015 - 5:25 am PT

Samsung reported higher than expected Q3 profits of 7.39T Korean won ($6.4 billion) on revenue of 51.68T won ($45.2 billion), achieving its predicted first return to profit growth in eight quarters. However, while the company reported increased sales of the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, this was only achieved by cutting the prices.

Samsung admits that smartphone growth will be slow compared to previous years, but Re/code notes that the company believes it can generate growth in two ways …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung finally makes giant 18.4-inch Galaxy View tablet official

Cam Bunton Oct 28 2015 - 8:26 am PT

Samsung’s huge Galaxy View tablet is finally official. Sammy announced the device on its official blog today, and confirmed many of the rumors we’ve previously heard. It’s quite obvious from the announcement that Samsung views this as a versatile multimedia device, not so much a portable tablet. Think of it as a touchscreen portable TV that runs Android Lollipop.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Gigantic 18.4-inch Samsung Galaxy View tablet preemptively leaked, pre-order for $600

Cam Bunton Oct 26 2015 - 6:23 am PT

After being leaked and rumored about for months, the huge Samsung Galaxy View tablet is finally available to pre-order. Adorama is taking pre-orders now, but hasn’t stated when customers should expect to receive their orders, but does state that any pre-orders placed will be shipped to customers on a first-come first-serve basis, and credit cards won’t be charged until the unit ships.

For $599, you’ll get an Android-based tablet boasting an enormous 18.4-inch full HD 1080p display. The Galaxy View runs Android Lollipop and is powered by the Exynos 7580 octa-core 1.6GHz processor. There’s 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage, which can be expanded up to an extra 128GB via MicroSD card. Other specs include a 5,700mAh battery, stereo speakers, Bluetooth 4.1 and a 2.1MP front facing camera.

Judging the device based on the promotional images being used to sell the Galaxy View, it’s clear Samsung sees this more as a secondary, portable smart TV screen you can move around your house:

Although specifications don’t exactly scream ‘flagship’, given that its primary use will be to watch Netflix, or any other video streaming service, it should easily be powerful enough to handle it. What’s more, 1080p resolution at a few feet away will still look pretty sharp.

Samsung isn’t the only company to see the need for big tablets this year. Ignoring the comparatively tiny iPad Pro, Alcatel OneTouch teased a 17-inch tablet dubbed the Xess, which it’s expected to reveal in more detail at CES next year.

Xiaomi reportedly plans to join Samsung in offering iPhone 6s-style pressure-sensitive touchscreens

Ben Lovejoy Oct 23 2015 - 7:40 am PT

Following Synaptics’ announcement that it would be offering pressure-sensitive touchscreen controllers to allow Android manufacturers to offer features similar to 3D Touch on Apple’s latest iPhones, it appears that Xiaomi will be adopting the technology.

It has previously been suggested that Samsung plans to use the Synaptics system in next year’s flagship Galaxy handsets.

The report from a well-known Chinese tipster says that Xiaomi has patented a technology similar to 3D Touch, notes GforGames. It’s unclear whether Xiaomi plans to use the Synaptics controller or has created its own technology.

Sketchy Samsung Galaxy S7 rumors: Built from Magnesium alloy, better audio and January release

Cam Bunton Oct 20 2015 - 4:30 am PT

Now that all of this year’s biggest flagships have been unveiled and released, it seems now is the time to turn our attention to the next lot. Samsung’s Galaxy S7 has been in the press a number of times recently, and an increasing number of rumors have arisen over the past few days. Reports and posts from MyDrivers and Weibo (two sources with less-than-reliable track records) suggests that we’ll see a phone built from a Magnesium alloy and have improved sound…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung predicts first return to profit growth in two years – but thanks to chips, not phones

Ben Lovejoy Oct 7 2015 - 4:29 am PT

There’s good news and bad news for Samsung today. The good news: the company has forecast a reversal of its seven-quarter decline in profits, suggesting an impressive year-on-year hike of almost 80%.

The bad news is that, while the company itself hasn’t released any details on where the profit is coming from, analysts cited by the WSJ and elsewhere put it down to strong growth in sales of chips and displays – not phone sales. This suggests that Samsung is making its money by helping other manufacturers, like Apple, sell their phones …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Report: Samsung Galaxy S7 will have Snapdragon 820 in US & Chinese markets, Exynos elsewhere

Cam Bunton Oct 2 2015 - 2:58 am PT

Following evidence suggesting that Samsung has tested at least two revisions of the Snapdragon 820 processor in its next flagship, the Galaxy S7, a new report claims that the upcoming smartphone will indeed ship with Qualcomm’s next high-end chip. Korean publication, ETNews claims that Samsung will be targeting its biggest markets (America and China) with the SD820-equipped smartphone…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Review: One month with Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge+ [Video]

Dom Esposito Sep 24 2015 - 2:30 pm PT

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ … wow that’s a long name, but what a beautifully designed phone we have here. It’s of the best designs I’ve seen this year without a doubt, but what makes it so special? It’s essentially just a larger S6 Edge, right? Yep.

There are only two main things that make this phone different: a larger display and a larger battery. If you’re unfamiliar with the much smaller S6 Edge, check out our review or top features article, but due to the similarities between these two we’re not going to get too in-depth with this review…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung Pay Korean transactions of $30M exceed expectations, says company, in run-up to U.S. launch

Ben Lovejoy Sep 24 2015 - 4:43 am PT

Samsung has announced that its mobile wallet service Samsung Pay has been used for more than $30M worth of transactions in its first month in the company’s home market of Korea. The company says that the number “has been beyond our expectations.”

Samsung devices are hugely popular within Korea, and the WSJ notes that the “launch was boosted by a massive advertising campaign,” so this doesn’t necessarily suggest that it will see achieve similar take-up in the U.S. when it launches on Monday – especially given the limited number of Samsung devices that support it …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung testing Snapdragon 820 in Galaxy S7 according to leaked benchmarks

Cam Bunton Sep 22 2015 - 5:52 am PT

Samsung caused a lot of chatter in the tech scene when it decided to eschew Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips in favor of its own Exynos processors this year. All four of Samsung’s high end devices feature its own processor in every market worldwide. But that could change next year. According to a few leaks posted to Chinese social network, weibo, Qualcomm has sent a few different versions of its Snapdragon 820 processor to Samsung for testing in its Galaxy S7.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung had a few taunts of its own after Apple’s iPhone 6s, iPad Pro event last night

Cam Bunton Sep 10 2015 - 5:13 am PT

Leading up to Apple’s eagerly anticipated keynote presentation last night, Sony had a jab prepared for the iPhone-makers before they unveiled the iPhone 6s, Apple TV and iPad Pro. It seems, however, Sony wasn’t the only manufacturer attempting to rain on Apple’s parade. Arguably Apple’s biggest competitor, Samsung had a few of its own jibes to share with us and took to its UK Twitter handle to publish them…

Expand
Expanding
Close

T-Mobile announces native video calling on Galaxy Note 5 and Edge 6+, other Android phones soon

Cam Bunton Sep 3 2015 - 8:41 am PT

T-Mobile, in a blog post this morning, announced a brand new communication service for its customers. Without needing to install a third party app, T-Mo subscribers will be able to place video calls from a compatible device, just by using the regular phone interface. Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 users should have the feature available already through a software update rolling out today, while Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge customers can expect the download to arrive next week. By the end of this year, three more phones will have video calling enabled, giving T-Mo a total of 7 compatible devices.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung’s new Car Mode for Galaxy is its own Android Auto

Tom Maxwell Sep 3 2015 - 4:11 am PT

Samsung just wrapped up its keynote event at the IFA trade show here in Berlin where it spent most of its presentation time discussing the trend of software powering everything in our lives, called Internet of Things. One peculiar new service in particular was an in-car dashboard app that works with the company’s Galaxy line of Android smartphones.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Crazy thin Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 goes on pre-order today, launches September 3rd

Cam Bunton Aug 26 2015 - 7:23 am PT

Samsung recently announced a brand new tablet range dubbed the Galaxy Tab S2, and today, the company has announced that its new 8.0-inch and 9.7-inch tablets are going to be available to pre-order from Samsung, Amazon and Best Buy starting today. They’re expected to launch at partner retailers and carriers on September 3rd. Pricing starts at $399 for the Wi-Fi only 8-inch model with 32GB storage, with the 9.7-inch 32GB Wi-Fi only version costing $499.

T-Mobile is one of the first U.S. carriers to announce that it will be selling the LTE-equipped versions of the tablets from September for $649 full retail, or $0 down and 24 monthly payments of around $27.

As revealed previously, apart from size, the two Galaxy Tab S2 models share almost identical specifications. Both 4:3 ratio screens have a resolution of 2048 x 1536, both have 8MP rear cameras and 2.1MP front cameras. Both are also powered by the same octa-core processor, feature 32GB storage (expandable up to 218GB) and 3GB RAM, although there is a 64GB storage option for the 9.7-inch version. Both also have 802.11 Wi-Fi up to AC standard with 2.4GHz and 5GHz compatibility and have Bluetooth 4.1 radios, fingerprint scanners and a bunch of the usual motion and light sensors. Both, incredibly, are also just 5.6mm thin. The only other real difference is the battery capacity: The small version features 4,000mAh while the larger one has 5,870mAh.

So far, we’ve ben unable to locate any pre-order pages, but we’ll update the post with links to those as soon as they go live.

Sprint Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge receiving Samsung Pay, live broadcasting via YouTube, more

Tom Maxwell Aug 24 2015 - 1:36 pm PT

The service may not be launching until next month, but owners of Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are now receiving an over-the-air update which includes support for Samsung Pay. The update, which you’ll need approximately 303MB of free storage to install, includes some other additions as well.

For starters, there’s support for live video broadcasting over YouTube, which has been a highly-requested ability from the video hosting platform ever since the launch of the competing Meerkat and Periscope apps. This is possible thanks to WatchMe, an open-source project by Google that allows app developers to integrate with the YouTube Data and YouTube Live Streaming APIs, among others. There’s also higher quality audio output to Samsung headsets (those new Level On headphones, perhaps?), UI updates, and the usual bug fixes.

Samsung Pay is Samsung’s mobile payments app and service that is different from other solutions from Google and Apple because it includes the ability to pay at nearly any credit card terminal. It does this through the use of MST technology, the same thing used in the magnetic strips on the back of all credit and debit cards.

While Samsung Pay is expected to work in far more places than Android Pay and Apple Pay currently do, Verizon Wireless here in the States is still evaluating whether or not to allow the service onto the Samsung devices it sells, according to a representative from the company speaking to NewGeekGuide.

The update could take several days to hit devices. You can check manually by visiting Settings > About phone > System updates.

McDonald’s preparing staff for Android Pay launch this week

Cam Bunton Aug 24 2015 - 5:34 am PT

McDonald’s has been circulating an update to its staff relating to changes in its mobile payment offerings. If the details being sent internally to employees are accurate, Android Pay could be available to customers from August 26th (two days away). Android Pay, of course, was one of the big announcements made at Google’s I/O conference last month and was unveiled alongside Android M, which we now know is 6.0 Marshmallow.

There are reasons to be skeptical about this date. Mostly, the two communications shown by Android Police state that McDonald’s is rolling out Samsung Pay support on August 21st (last Friday). That date, we know, is incorrect. Friday may have been the release date for the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, but Samsung’s mobile payment solution isn’t expected until next month. This could simply be an honest mistake. If so, it seems strange that we’ve heard nothing about McDonald’s higher-ups not informing staff of its error. Another explanation is possibly that the company is rolling out support way ahead of launch to make sure they’re ready. After all, they have some 14,000 stores in the U.S. alone.

There is a chance that the Android Pay launch date is accurate even if the Samsung Pay one isn’t. If it is accurate it would come as something of a surprise. We’d initially expected that Android Pay would be publicly available around the same time as Android 6.0 Marshmallow to tie the two launches together. In fact, Google stated as much when it was announced. Saying that, it was also announced that Android versions from KitKat and later would support it, suggesting that it would at least be possible to launch Pay before Marshmallow, even if it isn’t probable.

If I had to guess, I’d say McDonald’s got its dates wrong by about one month. Still, I’ll be delighted if Android Pay does launch this week.

Samsung is showing ads to device owners through push notifications

Tom Maxwell Aug 21 2015 - 10:04 am PT

Not you too, Samsung. After reporting early this month that HTC was sending advertisements to owners of its devices through push notifications, it appears that Samsung is doing something similar.

Android Police is today reporting that owners of Samsung devices have reached out to the site to share with them screenshots of ads appearing in the slide-down menu that includes all their notifications. The ads — one for the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is pictured — appear inside cards that looks just like every other notification. They’re delivered via the Samsung Push Service, a piece of software Samsung pre-installs on its Android devices to send helpful information to device owners. Not exactly helpful this time, though.

We weren’t terribly surprised when HTC started doing this, being in the kind of financial straits they are, but it’s definitely surprising coming from a technology giant like Samsung. The company’s software is already notoriously bloated and known to kill running apps a little too quickly, so this is just another blow for a company that has only just began to produce great phones again after an uninteresting Galaxy S5.

Aside from people just not liking ads in general, much of the frustration here centers around the distrust it creates. While we pay for cable television and still see ads there, it hasn’t become acceptable practice to see ads in and around the gadgets we buy with our hard earned money. Hopefully OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) don’t think they can make it okay.

Best Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ cases already available to order

Cam Bunton Aug 18 2015 - 9:33 am PT

After first unveiling its new phablets five days ago, Samsung will start selling the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ smartphones this week. Some carriers will be selling it already, while others are waiting for the official August 21st release date. Chances are, you don’t want to take any risks with damaging your precious and ludicrously expensive smartphone. It may fare better than the S5 in drop tests, but it’s probably best for you not to test that, on purpose or by accident. With that in mind, check out some of the cases already announced by some of the best accessory makers around.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung’s first Galaxy Note 5 commercial airs: It’s all about that S-Pen

Cam Bunton Aug 15 2015 - 1:07 pm PT

Samsung pushed its first Galaxy Note 5 TV commercial to YouTube today, and no surprise, it’s all about what you can do with that S-Pen. Set to a fast-paced percussion soundtrack, with speedy cuts in the edit, it has been designed to make you excited at all you can do with the stylus as well as convey a sense of productivity and speed.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Carrier Availability: Where to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ in the US

Cam Bunton Aug 13 2015 - 10:13 am PT

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ have just been announced and carriers aren’t holding back in letting us know when and where we can get hold of these new devices. The US is going to be one of the first countries to get the latest flagship phablets. Here’s where you can get them and when…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung teases round Gear S2 smartwatch, unveiling on September 3rd at IFA

Cam Bunton Aug 13 2015 - 9:02 am PT

With Samsung deciding to host its own event to launch the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ today, we assumed the company was ditching IFA altogether. Turns out that’s not the case. Right at the end of today’s presentation, the Korean tech giant teased its next smartwatch, the Gear S2. It will be unveiled in Berlin on September 3rd.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Samsung embedding its Unpacked livestream into banner ads around the web

Tom Maxwell Aug 13 2015 - 8:55 am PT

I think Samsung saw OnePlus do something unique for its recent product announcement and said, “We can do something like that too!”

If you haven’t already noticed, technology sites across the web have been blanketed in advertisements promoting Samsung’s Unpacked product event where it just unveiled the much-anticipated (and much leaked) Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+. But there’s something unique happening here.

These advertisements have the Unpacked livestream embedded within themselves. Yes, no tricks here — it’s the actual YouTube stream, 100% in-sync and all. It does end after about 30 seconds, though, and directs you to continue on YouTube or Samsung’s website.

These unique banner ads are also similar to OnePlus’s VR-based product unveiling (read: shenanigans) in that they’re pretty annoying and unnecessary. Nobody likes banner ads as-is, but autoplaying video ads incite an even different level of rage. Even better is that sites like ours already had the stream embedded in posts.