Samsung may have their hands full with the Galaxy Note 7 ever since it started to blow up due to faulty batteries, but that could also contribute to the OEM pushing its next flagship smartphone ahead of schedule. Whether it will be released earlier this year or not is something that we will just have to wait to find out, but the rumor mill is at it again and here are a few juicy bits of those rumors that you may like.

30-megapixel camera sensor - Although Nokia already did one better by fitting a 41-megapixel sensor on the back of the Lumia 1020 back in 2013, No Android smartphone has ever sported a 30-megapixel camera yet. The Galaxy S8 is rumoured to be the pioneer in this regard by hosting one of these mythical sensors next year.

Self-manufactured Snapdragon 830 SoC - If the latest rumors are to be believed then Samsung could be the sole manufacturer of the SD 830 chipset on a 10nm process next year. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up against its own in-house Exynos 8895 chip.

Other rumors around the upcoming flagship include 6GB of RAM, a 4,200 mAh battery and even a projector! We are not quite sure about the projector, but all the other rumors do not seem that farfetched to be honest. However, Samsung values the quality of the lenses and the sensor more than the size of the sensor, so the megapixel count may not go up as high as 30-megapixel yet. But then again, you never know!

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Samsung has already replaced most of the hazardous Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in the US and has even restarted selling the phone with a guarantee for safety. However, things just took a turn for the worst yesterday when a Galaxy Note 7 caught fire within a Southwest Airlines plane (994) that was heading to Baltimore from Louisville.

Brian Green stated that the phone was turned off and in his pocket when he noticed smoke coming from it. He threw it onto the floor, where it then proceeded to burn the carpeting and even scorched the metal floor beneath it. In Green's own words, a "thick grey-green angry smoke" was emitting from the smartphone. The plane was evacuated immediately after.

The box as shown by the owner clearly indicates that the device was supposed to be safe due to the black square icon that you can see right beside the model number (SM-N930A). He further added that it even had the green battery icon used by Samsung to assure safety of the device. The phone was at about 80-percent charge when this incident occurred and according to Mr. Greene, he had used a wireless charger to charge it previously.

The burned Note 7 is being investigated by the Louisville Fire Department (arson division), while the CPSC has already started an investigation on the incident. Considering that even checking the device's IMEI number with the recall eligibility checker app confirms that this was indeed a "safe" unit, things are looking VERY bad for Samsung right now. On being questioned by The Verge, Samsung had this to say;

"Until we are able to retrieve the device, we cannot confirm that this incident involves the new Note7. We are working with the authorities and Southwest now to recover the device and confirm the cause. Once we have examined the device we will have more information to share."

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

We are pretty much used to seeing Qualcomm manufacturing the flagship grade 8xx series of Snapdragon processors every year for a while now, but rumors are indicating that this scenario could change in 2017. Samsung might just be exclusively manufacturing the upcoming SD 830 SoC for Qualcomm next year. The same rumor also reported that this new chip would be based on a 10nm FoFLP process, which is a new cooperative venture by Samsung and Qualcomm. This new Fan-out Panel Level Package (FoFLP) process will make printed circuit boards unnecessary for the package substrate. The advantages will include better battery life and thinner frames along with making I/O ports much easier to put in.

Allegedly, Samsung will continue to produce its own brand of Exynos processors as well and the upcoming Galaxy S8 will be launched in the same way as it had been done this year. This means that the international version of the S8 will sport the Exynos 8895 SoC, while the US versions will come with SD 830. However, the performance and battery life of the two variants should not differ by much next year, if both chips are made by Samsung on a 10nm process.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

LeEco had done it before Apple, but Apple had got the worst of it when it comes to fan hate over ditching the headphone jack. In fact, Samsung themselves had mocked Apple on that decision while unveiling the Galaxy Note 7 in August. However, certain websites have been reporting that Samsung will go in the same direction by excluding the 3.5mm headphone jack from their next flagship smartphone. After doing a bit of research, we have come to a conclusion that there is no hard fact or report to confirm or strongly indicate such a decision.

It is true that Samsung CAN do so if they choose to, as the technology to deliver Continual Digital Lossless Audio (CDLA) via USB Type-C is definitely there for Android and will even sound better, especially to audiophiles. However, given that the 3.5mm audio jack is still extremely popular, it might be a while before we see everyone adopting the tech and the customers getting adjusted to them. Until we hear something more concrete, we will reserve our predictions for now.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

In tune with what they had announced earlier, Samsung has now officially restarted selling their latest stylus touting smartphone once again in South Korea from October 1. Of course, these are the new "safe" Note 7 smartphones and hopefully Samsung got it right this time around!

Things have been quite bad for Samsung around the world ever since their latest and greatest smartphone started to explode and catch fire due to a malfunctioning series of batteries. They have suffered well over a billion dollars in loss and one can only imagine the kind of impact this incident will have on their reputation and sales figures in the long term.

Nevertheless, the current king of the smartphone business has once again resumed with their Galaxy Note 7 sales in South Korea, complete with advertising campaigns and an exclusive promo offer which will shave 50% off your screen repairing bill, provided you buy the smartphone in October. In the US however, Samsung in partnership with the local carriers had started to sell the new batch of Note 7s with a green battery icon, quite a while back. Europe should see the sales resume by the end of November, although other regions may begin to receive new shipments a lot sooner.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)