Samsung new patent hint bendable Phone

A recent patent application from Samsung shows a new smartphone with a foldable design. The patent was filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and was first spotted by Dutch website GalaxyClub. Samsung’s  patent also gives us a first glimpse at the design of the phone they are trying to create. Back in 2015, Samsung had announced that it was working on a bendable phone design,which a leak on Weibo claimed was dubbed as Project Valley.
The patent application shows clear renders of the foldable design, which when folded reminds us of a Microsoft Surface Book hinge. The patent shows the display of the phone to runs down the entire length of the thin but tall design, which can be folded right down the middle.
In June this year, Bloomberg had reported that Samsung was working on two new smartphones, which will have a bendable display. Both devices will come with an OLED display, and an early 2017 launch is being planned, claimed the report.
A recent report also said Apple was granted a patent for a foldable smartphone design. Unlike the Samsung device, Apple’s patent hints at a device that will fold like a book. The inner workings of Apple’s patent talks about flexible printed circuits, flexible display substrates and flexible touch sensor substrates.
Samsung has also been testing the smartphone market with a dual-display flip smartphone design, and has recently launched the W2017. The dual-display phone features two 4.2-inch Super AMOLED displays with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution and comes with the latest Snapdragon 821 processor. Samsung W2017 is the successor to the W2016 that carried a similar flip design.

Report: Samsung Galaxy J5 Explode

A Samsung phone user in France says her Galaxy J5 smartphone caught fire and exploded on Sunday. The model is different from the Galaxy Note 7 that has been recalled worldwide.
Lamya Bouyirdane told The Associated Press on Monday that she noticed the phone was very hot after she asked her four-year-old son to pass it over during a family gathering at her home. She said she threw the phone away when she realized it had “swollen up” and smoke was coming out. “I panicked when I saw the smoke and I had the reflex to throw it away,” said Bouyirdane, a mother of three in the southwestern French city of Pau. The phone then caught fire and the back blew off. Her partner quickly extinguished it.
Bouyirdane said she bought the phone new last June on a website offering discounts. She said she will sue Samsung. The South Korean company recently recalled millions of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones globally because of a problem that caused the batteries to overheat and catch fire. Samsung did not immediately respond to an email from the AP seeking comments following the latest incident.  Samsung is facing billions of dollars in damages due to the Note 7 fiasco.
Samsung has recalled more than 2.5 million units of the Galaxy Note 7 and its replacement units last month, and has since terminated the program completely. The company is already reeling from a second recall, after safety concerns regarding 2.8 million top-loading machines made from 2011 to 2016.
There have been 700 reports of the top-loading machine related incidents, along with nine serious injuries.

Samsung Galaxy S8 to get AI Assistant

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7’s collapse and differentiate its devices. The world’s top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc’s Siri voice assistant programme. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company’s AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices. Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after the discontinuation of fire-prone Galaxy Note 7s, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three quarters through the first quarter of 2017.
Investors and analysts say the Galaxy S8 must be a strong device in order for Samsung to win back customers and revive earnings momentum.
Samsung did not comment on what types of services would be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. It said the AI assistant would allow customers to use third-party service seamlessly. “Developers can attach and upload services to our agent,” said Samsung Executive Vice President Rhee In-jong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant. “Even if Samsung doesn’t do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease.
Report Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially via voice. Alphabet Inc’s Google is widely considered to be the leader in AI, but others including Amazon.com, Apple and Microsoft Corp have launched their own offerings including voice-powered digital assistants.

Samsung recall Washing Machines

Samsung Electronics, which is already reeling from a global recall of its Note 7 smartphones, said it would recall about 2.8 million of its top-load washing machines in the United States to address safety concerns. The top of the washing machines can unexpectedly detach from the chassis during use, posing a risk of injury from impact, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement on Friday.
The machines being recalled were manufactured between March 2011 and November 2016. Samsung received nine related reports of injuries, including a broken jaw, injured shoulder and other fall-related injuries. Samsung, the world’s top smartphone maker, is grappling with a global recall of at least 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in 10 markets due to faulty batteries causing some phones to catch fire.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Elliot Kaye of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said that these top loading washing machines from Samsung had a serious hazard of completely blowing up. There have been reportedly 700 incidents with these machines with at least nine injuries, according to the CPSC. CPSC had also issued a statement in late September saying that the organisation was working with Samsung to address the safety issue related to 34 models of the company’s top-loading washing machines that were made between March 2011 and April of 2016.
The recall of these washing machines is another huge blow to Samsung that has already suffering through huge losses from the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, recall and eventual termination of the program.

Samsung launch W2017 in China

Samsung has unveiled its W2017 flip smartphone in China. Flip phones are actually a rare sight in the smartphone industry, with the dual-display clamshell Android phone a successor to the Samsung’s W2016 smartphone that had a similar flip design design. The dual SIM phone is 4G LTE capable and weighs 208 grams.
Samsung W2017 is a dual-SIM device and is already listed on the company’s Chinese website. The phone will feature two 4.2-inch Super AMOLED displays that have a full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels). It is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 820 SoC, and comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal memory storage (expandable to 256GB via MicroSD).The W2017 smartphone will be running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and will be backed by a small 2300 mAh battery that supports fast charging. The phone sports a 12MP primary camera that comes with an f/1.9 aperture and supports 4K video recording. The front camera on the device features a 5MP sensor.
Samsung W2017 has a rear mounted fingerprint scanner. The company hasn’t made any announcements about the price of the phone.
The predecessor to the phone, the W2016 was launched last year and featured two 3.9-inch Super AMOLED displays with 1280 x 768 screen resolutions. The phone was powered by a 1.5GHz octa-core processor with 3GB RAM. It was backed by a 2000 mAh battery. The primary camera on the phone was 16MP, with a 5MP camera sensor on the front of the device.

Samsung Gear S3 costly than Apple watch

Samsung's new Gear S3 smartwatch will launch on Nov. 18 in the U.S. starting at $349.99 for the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi model — more than an entry-level Apple Watch. Pre-orders start on Nov. 6.
Consumers can pick one up from Samsung.com, Best Buy, Amazon, Macy's. Samsung announced the smartwatch in August, and it'll be available in two models: a regular "Classic" and slightly more rugged "Frontier" edition. They're Samsung's first smartwatches to feature built-in LTE and GPS. The Gear S3 also supports Samsung Pay using MST technology — the same contactless payment technology used by Samsung's flagship S7 and S7 Edge phones.
The smartwatch's large 46mm (diameter) case is a departure from the more reasonably-sized 32mm  Gear S2 and even 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch. The larger case does mean room for the LTE, GPS and a larger battery, which is reportedly good for three to four days on a single charge. Size aside, the Gear S3, last I checked, looks like a solid smartwatch running Tizen and connecting to Samsung smartphones. Not to mention it has military-grade durability with an IP68 rating for resistance to water, dust and sand.

Samsung Galaxy S8 to feature bezel-less display

According to a report by The Investor, Samsung will be bringing an edge-to-edge or a bezel-less display that will be based on OLED technology. Park Won-sang, a principal engineer at Samsung’s display making unit has hinted that the phone will be coming with a 90 per cent display area ratio. In comparison, the average ratio of display to body ratios in modern day smartphone stands at 80 per cent.
Smartphone manufacturers are already playing around with a edge-to-edge and no bezel displays, which includes Xiaomi that recently unveiled its concept smartphone – the Mi Mix.
The phone has been designed by Philippe Starck, a French designer – uses seamless connectors to fuse the phone’s body without the need to use external adhesives. Mi Mix will be featuring a 6.4-inch edge-to-edge display, which the company says will have a 91.3 per cent screen-to-body ratio and a custom 17:9 aspect ratio. Since there is no bezel on top of the phone, the front camera has been moved to the bottom of the device.
Samsung Galaxy S8 will reportedly feature a 5.1-inch 2K super AMOLED display, with the larger version sporting a 5.5-inch 4K display. The phone is likely to be powered by the company’s upcoming Exynos 8895 processor, and likely the Snapdragon 830. A dual-rear camera setup is also expected with the ‘Edge’ version of the Galaxy S8.

Samsung 3rd quarter profit slipped

Samsung profits slipped significantly as a result of the Note 7 debacle, the company confirmed today in financial results for the third quarter of 2016. The results were in line with adjusted earnings guidance issued earlier this month, showing that the company made 5.2 trillion won (around$4.7 billion) in operating profit for Q3 — a year-on-year decrease of 2.19 trillion won (around $1.93 billion) — on revenues of 47.82 trillion won (around $42.1 billion). The year-on-year drop of more than a third marks the first decline in profits in a year for Samsung, which started to turn around a stagnant financial situation in the third quarter of 2015. The Note 7 situation makes today’s results something of an anomaly in the company’s record — it points specifically to the phone’s very public problems as the cause of the decrease — but it’s yet to be seen whether the fallout from the recall will affect Samsung’s future profits, too.
The first profit decline in a year Prior to its decision to fully recall the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung had anticipated slight increases in operating profit for the quarter. Guidance released on October 7th indicated profits of 7.8 trillion won, up on last year’s figure by a few billion, and revenues of around 49 trillion won. But the company revised these figures a few days later, slashing expected profits when it became apparent that replacement Note 7 devices were also catching fire, forcing a full recall.
The hole left in the balance sheet by the Note 7 was partially filled by a solid quarter from Samsung’s consumer electronics division, but its component profits dipped slightly year-on-year due to changes in DRAM pricing. Samsung also points to the Korean won’s strength against other currencies as a cause for a slight decrease in operating profit.
The real culprit here is the Note 7, however, a fact that Samsung admits. For 2017, the company says it plans to get back to increasing profits by “normalization” of its mobile business, and presumably by hoping everyone forgets about flaming phones.

Samsung offering Note 7 owners 50 percent discount

Samsung is offering Note 7 owners in South Korea the chance to upgrade their phone to a Note 8 for half the price when the as-yet-unannounced handset becomes available next year. The company announced the deal as part of an ongoing exchange program for the Note 7 in its home country, but according to Reuters, there's no word on whether the same offer will be made in the US.
Here's Reuters describing the (Korean language) press release from Samsung: "In a statement on Monday, Samsung said customers who trade in their Note 7 phone for either a flat-screen or curved-screen version of the Galaxy S7 can trade up for a Galaxy S8 or Note 8 smartphone launching next year through an upgrade programme". The news seemingly confirms that Samsung will be continuing the Note line despite the disaster of the Note 7, which was permanently discontinued earlier this month.
According to Reuters, Note 7 owners in Korea will only have to pay half the price of a Galaxy S7 to get their hands on a Galaxy S8 or Note 8 next year. When Samsung was asked if the same deal would be extended to other markets, the company told Reuters this would depend on "the situation in each country."
This is only the latest incentive Samsung has offered Note 7 owners in an attempt to keep them loyal to the company's brand. In the US, for example, Note 7 owners can get $25 in credit if they refund the defective phone or exchange for another device. But, if they exchange it for another Samsung phone, that credit incentive is bumped up to $100. Clearly, the company isn't just worried about getting dangerous Note7s out of customers' hands — they're also afraid the Samsung brand might be tainted for good.

Samsung Pay available Worldwide early next year

Samsung Pay users around the world will soon be able to use the service to buy items online. The company announced today that it has signed a deal with Mastercard to use Masterpass, a digital payment system already supported by hundreds of thousands of online retailers in 33 countries, starting early next year. In addition to buying goods online, users in the US will also be able to use Samsung Pay for in-app purchases, and find money-off discounts for local stores from November, as Samsung makes its payment service more of a fully featured online wallet.
Online payments were already possible through Samsung Pay, but only in the company's native South Korea, where they counted for 25 percent of the 2 trillion won in payments processed by the service. In expanding the new feature to other countries from early 2017, Samsung Pay users be able to make online payments from their phones, tablets, or computers, and use express checkouts that automatically fill in payment data based on information saved in Samsung Pay wallets.
In-app payments and discounts will arrive sooner than online payments — in the US at least — in November this year. Wine app Hello Vino and restaurant booking service Velocity are among the first apps to enable Samsung Pay in-app purchases, letting users buy wine or book tables through the service.
It's not clear exactly what kind of discounts US customers will be getting through the service's new "deals" feature, but as the company rolls its digital wallet out to even more countries, they could help make Samsung Pay a more attractive payment option in a crowded market it shares with Apple and Google's digital wallets.

Samsung updates its Surface competitor

The Windows-powered Galaxy TabPro S was released by Samsung earlier this year, but the company has now given it a spec bump and a fresh lick of paint. The new TabPro S Gold Edition has the same 12-inch AMOLED display and detachable keyboard case as its predecessor, but now comes with 8GB of RAM (double the memory) and up to 256GB of solid state storage.
Oh, and yes, did we mention it has a gold finish now as well? The extra RAM is certainly welcome. When the TabPro S was reviewed back in April, performance was one of our main gripes, with the device often seizing up when faced with a lot of Chrome tabs. An extra 4GB of RAM should really solve that issue, as more storage is always welcome. However, the tablet's other specs remain unchanged, and we'd also have liked the addition of an LTE connection for getting work done on the go.
But the question remains: is it worth it for the price? The new TabPro S Gold Edition is on sale for $999.99 at retailers including Best Buy and Samsung.com. That's $200 more than the original, meaning that the device is likely to be a luxury, rather than a practical choice.

Mac Pro unofficial competitor is Samsung’s modular ArtPC Pulse

Samsung’s competition with Apple in terms of design is not a new story and the Korean smartphone giant has been outdesigning the Cupertino products lately. Having already conquered the smartphone market with great design, Samsung is bringing those elements to PC world. Samsung has announced a customisable, modular desktop with high-end components and a Mac Pro-esque circular design. Samsung’s ArtPC Pulse offers circular design and unique pulse lighting that also acts as notification system. With easy to add module, ArtPC Pulse users can easily customise the storage option.
Samsung ArtPC Pulse features a customisable band that offers subtle lighting to reflect incoming notifications. The pulse lighting turns yellow for new email, blue for a social media update and green for a new chat message.
The PC also offers an hourly chime for notifying time.
Samsung ArtPC Pulse’s customisable circular design is made of full metal unibody, which is 5.5-inches wide and around one foot tall. The PC comes with sixth generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, AMD Radeon RX460 graphics processor, up to 16GB RAM. The internal storage is a hybrid of 256GB SSD and one HDD module. Samsung says the SSD storage would yield faster load times and performance.
Since the design is circular, Samsung has managed to pack in a 360 degree Harman/Kardon speaker for rich surround sound experience. The speaker can be customised with options for specific audio effects and sound balancing. Samsung ArtPC Pulse comes with plethora of ports like four USB 3.0, a USB Type-C and HDMI port.
Samsung’s ArtPC Pulse ships with a wireless keyboard and mouse for wireless use. The Samsung ArtPC Pulse is available for preorder at $1,199.99.

Samsung set-up collection point for Note 7

Samsung is setting up Galaxy Note 7 exchange booths in airports around the world, hoping to stop customers taking the dangerous device onto flights at the last minute. The first of these new "customer service points" appear to have been introduced in South Korean airports, but Samsung has confirmed the booths are opening in airports across Australia, with reports of the desks appearing in the US as well. The booths are located in "high-traffic terminals" before security screening, says Samsung, and allow Note 7 owners to swap their phone for an unspecified exchange device.
According to a report Samsung exchange desk has appeared at the city's international airport — employees for the tech company are on hand to help customers transfer their data onto a new phone.
These are necessary measures, as despite two global recalls for the Note 7 and daily news coverage of its dangers, analysts say that more than 1 million devices are still in use.
And as of last week, it's now a federal crime to bring a Note 7 onto a flight in the US, meaning that anyone caught with the phone risks fines and even imprisonment of up to ten years. Basically, if you're going on holiday any time soon you need to remember to bring your passport, buy some sunscreen, and leave any potentially explosive electronics at home.

Samsung has a new high-end Chromebook with touchscreen and styluscoming soon

Earlier this summer, rumors of a new Chromebook nicknamed ‘Kevin’ circulated around the web, and yesterday,ChromeUnboxed uncoveredthe yet-to-be-announced model through a series of retailer listings: the Samsung Chromebook Pro.
ChromeUnboxed noted that it had received a user tip of a listing for the device on B&H, which was quickly taken down. However, the site turned up a listing for the Chromebook on Adorama, as well as a landing page for the device.
The new Chromebook comes with a variety of impressive features: a 12.3 inch 2400x1600 resolution touch screen that can rotate 360 degrees, minimal bezels, 32GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, a stylus, an all-metal 12.9 mm-thick body and 10 hours of battery time. The hardware seems to be designed with Android app support in mind.The device is currently listed forpre-order on Adoramawith a $499 price tag.
There’s no official release date listed, but ChromeUnboxed reported that the since-deleted B&H product page listed October 24th for availability.

Samsung to launch Galaxy S8 and Tab S3 together

Despite it looking like we'd see the official reveal of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 at IFA 2016, the electronics giant remained silent about its successor to the Tab S2 tablet. However, a new report has rekindled our anticipation, saying that Samsung still plans to release its upcoming iPad competitor during Q1 2017.
Also revealed were two model numbers: SM-T820 and SM-T825, which indicate a WiFi-only and LTE model respectively, according to a Sam mobile report.
Interestingly, a Q1 2017 window could line the Tab S3's unveiling with the Samsung Galaxy S8, which is rumored to debut at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in late February. It'd be no shock to see Samsung unveil its next-gen devices at MWC, then release them sometime in March. The Galaxy S7, for example, released on March 11 of this year.
Waiting game
Unfortunately, little else was divulged about the Tab S3, such as screen size or specifications. Should today's info be valid, however, we could see Samsung formally announce its next flagship tablet in the next few months.
The company's last handheld, the Samsung Tab Pro S, hit the market this spring. It was Samsung's first swing at a 2-in-1 tablet/laptop combo running Windows 10. However, the Tab Pro S is more akin to the Surface Pro 4 than the iPad Air, and it's been well over a year since the smaller Tab S2 launched, so we certainly won't be sore for a new Samsung tablet if it's expected to drop in a few months.

Samsung to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7 disaster

Samsung is still in the midst of an unprecedented tech disaster with its Galaxy Note 7, despite officially burying the smartphone earlier this week. While some have speculated the South Korean giant will respond to the loss in profits and consumer confidence by releasing the Galaxy S8 earlier or with ground breaking specs, it turns out a much simpler tactic could be utilised.
According to a leak picked up by Trusted Reviews, Samsung may be planning to launch a 'Blue Coral' version of its non-explosive Galaxy S7 Edge- likely in an effort to draw attention away from the Note 7.
Perhaps the fact the colour was the most popular one for the failed smartphone is just coincidence, but it would make sense to block out public memory of the device by applying its trademark finish to a successful model.
The leak above not only shows off the potentially fresh colour, it also etches in the branding of carrier Verizon- something which suggests it could be in line for a US or exclusive option. Boo.
The move, if it does turn out to be legit, would also replicate a similar tactic by rival Apple. With the iPhone 7 featuring minimal upgrades from its predecessor, the company managed to distract everyone with two new black colourways - one of these crucially being shiny and ultra-pretty. As always, it's best to take these kinds of leaks with a reasonable dose of salt.
After all, we won't know for sure until any official confirmation from Samsung.

Report: Samsung to kill Note brand

Samsung might be planning to kill off the ‘Note’ brand altogether after the Galaxy Note 7 debacle. According to a report from Russian website HiTech Mail, Samsung might be planning to do away with the Note branding, which has been dragged through the mud with the Note 7’s battery explosion incidents for the past few weeks.
Samsung has received a lot of negative attention after not one, but two product recalls of the Galaxy Note 7. The replacement units that Samsung started selling again have also reportedly started to catch fire. After Samsung permanently axed the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, the company lost 8 per cent in market value; estimated to be $18 billion in market value.
The source in the report said that a survey done by Samsung found that more than 50 per cent of people in South Korea have a negative view of the ‘Note’ brand. The company however will not be retiring its ‘Galaxy’ moniker. Samsung has asked its carrier partners to stop selling all Note 7 phones, which includes the replacement units that they manufactured.
As per a recent report, Samsung has still been unable to make a Galaxy Note 7 catch fire in their test labs, and do not know the real reason behind the phones overheating. The company had hurridly concluded that the incidents were happening to devices that had batteries fitted from a particular factory. The company then started reselling replacement Note 7 phones fitted with batteries from a different supplier, and the problem still persists.

Samsung Galaxy S8 could land early

With all the drama surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 you might think Samsung would bring the launch of the Galaxy S8 forward, but apparently that's not happening, with the latest rumor suggesting an announcement on February 26.That's the day before MWC 2017 starts and is a very believable date, as Samsung launched the Galaxy S7 the day before MWC 2016.
We've also heard a lot of rumors about the specs and features of the S8, including the possibility of a dual-lens camera, which is now looking more likely, as two new trademark registrations, spotted by galaxyclub.nl, describe a 'LightUp Camera' and 'Light+ Camera', designed to enhance the brightness and clearness of images taken in low-light environments. Secondary sensors are often included to capture more light, so there's a good chance that these registrations are for a secondary sensor, and while the Galaxy S8 isn't mentioned, use with smartphones and tablets is, so Samsung's next flagship is a prime candidate.

Samsung suffer losses in Seoul Stock Exchange

Samsung continued to suffer losses in the Seoul Stock Exchange, with stocks down nearly 3 per cent after the withdrawal of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone over cases of spontaneous combustion. Samsung shares fell 8.04 per cent after the company announced that sales of the Note 7 phones were frozen and customers were asked not to use them after new cases of the appliances, given to replace the first defective smartphone, also caught on fire, EFE news reported. The South Korean multinational then reported it would indefinitely halt all manufacturing of the Galaxy Note 7 over the persistent flaw, a move that has not reassured investors ahead of the anticipated impact on the image of the Samsung brand. Shares of Samsung, one of the values in the Seoul Stock Exchange, dipped nearly 2.93 per cent in the first stage of negotiations, but the fall later slowed to around 2 per cent. Samsung's recent crash is the worst since 2008, and follows six other daily fluctuations more than 4 per cent this year related to the launch of its new flagship high-end device and its subsequent problems.
The crisis of the Galaxy Note 7 began just days after Samsung in in mid-August began selling its phablet, first branded as competition for the new iPhone 7.The company has been unable to ease the situation despite the unprecedented recall and replacement of some 2.5 million phones. Due to the definitive cancellation of the production of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung could stop selling an estimated 20 million phones, costing the company up to $17 million.

Samsung tease new smartphone

Samsung is going through very turbulent times with its smartphone business. The company has suspended sales of replacement Galaxy Note 7 devices and has asked retailers and carrier partners in the US to stop sales. But this difficult situation has not stopped Samsung from teasing a new product. Samsung has started teasing a new smartphone on its Weibo account in China which hints at company’s first 6GB RAM smartphone. The teaser shows a mysterious device wth metal unibody design. Since the launch of Galaxy S6 in 2015, Samsung has learnt the art of designing great smartphones. From company’s flagship smartphones to entry-level Galaxy J series, Samsung is definitely designing great smartphones.