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The Galaxy S5 was unveiled in 2014 as their flagship device by Samsung and back then, it was a pioneer in terms of the innovations that it brought to the Samsung smartphone line-up. It was the first Samsung smartphone ever to sport a heartbeat sensor, a fingerprint sensor, as well as having dust and water resistance capabilities. Nonetheless, it is over two year old now and smartphones do have a tendency to age fast. If you have a S5, then you would be pleased to know that Samsung has not forgotten about it yet. The latest reports suggest that after rolling Android M as an OTA update in South Korea earlier, the Korean manufacturer has now started to roll out the same updates for the S5 in Trinidad and Tobago as well.
As far as we know, the latest updates are being released for the SM-G900M and earlier, they were upgrading the SM-G900L in South Korea with Android Marshmallow. Provided that you are in Trinidad and Tobago, go to Settings, About device and Check for updates to see if the update has arrived on your Galaxy S5 yet. Once the 1.47GB package does arrive and you complete the update, the Android version on your phone should change to 6.0.1 and the firmware version to G900MUBU1CPC3.
If you are neither a resident of South Korea or Trinidad and Tobago, you will have to wait longer for the update unfortunately. If it is any consolation, the update is coming to your Samsung Galaxy S5 for sure, albeit a little later.
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)
The Galaxy J-series has received an overhaul as the J5 and the J7 was re-launched a few weeks ago in China with new and improved hardware. Starting from April 29, the two smartphones are now also available for purchase in Samsung's own country of origin, South Korea. The 2016 versions of the J5 and J7 will be offered in two colors, black and gold. KT is the only network which has the new J5 and J7 right now. This has been Samsung's strategy with their not-so-popular smartphones for a while now; offer limited color options and make the models available only via a single carrier.
The 2016 variant of the J5 features a 5.2" HD (720p) Super AMOLED display and is powered by a 1.2 GHz chipset with four cores. Backed up by 2GB of RAM, 16GB of in-built storage and a 3,100 mAh battery, the J5 will be running Android M right out of the box. It also sports a 13-megapixel snapper at the back and a 5-megapixel front camera to satisfy selfie demands. The highlight of the 2016 version is its metal design, which holds true for both the J5 (2016) and the J7 (2016).
Other than being powered by a slightly faster quad core processor which is clocked at 1.6 GHz, the new J7 shares the same 2GB RAM, 16 GB in-built memory and 13-megapixel/5-megapixel snappers with the J5. The J7 (2016) does sport a bigger battery (3.300 mAh) and a larger screen (5.5" 720p) though. The overlaying UI will be based on Android M, same as its smaller brother.
After considering that both the smartphones share almost the same hardware, one may wonder if the J7 (2016) is really worth the extra money that it asks for. In our opinion, the J5 (2016) priced at 290,000 won/$254 is probably a better buy than the J7, which is priced at 363,000 won/$318. If you were waiting for something a bit more budget-friendly, the J3 (2016) is also scheduled to be launched in South Korea soon.
Author: Saikat Kar (Tech-journalist and enthusiast)
The Samsung Galaxy Wide will be exclusively available on the South Korean carrier SK Telecom in under a month and from the look of things it will be exclusive to South Korea as well. This is official news as Samsung just revealed the details; along with the device itself in its home country yesterday.
The SM-G600S aka the Samsung Galaxy Wide seems suspiciously similar to the Galaxy On7 handset from 2015 and even the model number is almost the same (On7 has the model number G600FY). After looking at the internal hardware, one might be tempted to believe that this is actually the Galaxy On7 from last year that the Korean OEM is rebranding and launching in South Korea, after a few tweaks and improvements for SK Telecom.
Display: 5.5" TFT
SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (1.2GHz)
RAM: 2GB
Internal storage: 16GB
Front/rear camera: 5mp/13mp
Battery: 3,000mAh
Android version: Marshmallow
Considering the outdated specifications of the smartphone, the 319,000 ($276) Korean Won price tag seems overpriced. The only interesting aspect of the Galaxy Wide is the fact that it will sport a T-DMB chip for accessing digital terrestrial broadcasting signals within South Korea.
Author: Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
The much awaited Android M updates for some of last year's flagships are finally being rolled out by Samsung. As it turns out, Samsung's own nation of origin South Korea, is the first country to receive them. We already have an idea about what new features to expect and possible changes in the interface, thanks to the pre-release beta version of the firmware that was made available to users if they wanted to test it out.
It is only a matter of time before the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Note 5 are also updated, but at this moment, Android 6.0.1 is only available for the S6 and S6 Edge. No news has yet been revealed about when the updates will be made available in other regions. Even without an official confirmation, expect the updates to hit all markets very soon.
Amongst all the features and changes that we saw with the beta version of the Marshmallow update, some impressed us more than others. The newly added option to change shutter speeds is something that will be appreciated by photography enthusiasts while the redesigned power menu may not appeal to everyone. The ability to change and apply themes based on one's choice of color palettes is another useful and likable modification that we loved. There are plenty of other changes and additions but which ones will make it to the final stable version remains to be seen.
Samsung has just made it official that they have an interesting exchange plan for the people who bought the Galaxy Note 7. However the plan is only available in South Korea as of now. A lot of the customer base wasn't satisfied in the way Samsung handled the entire debacle, but hopefully, this plan will convince some of them to stay loyal to Samsung.
According to the plan, if you exchange the Note 7 for a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, you will have to pay half of the original price of that particular handset and even that can be paid via instalments over a period of twelve months. The contract further extends to include that you will have to opt for the Galaxy S8 or some other flagship grade smartphone that Samsung releases next year at full price. When you decide to exchange the S7/S7 Edge for the S8 next year, the contract can be renewed in a way so that the remainder of the instalments will extend up to an additional period of 12 months, until the full price of the S8 is paid off.
While this is a good offer for Samsung loyalists, it might take quite a devotee to opt for a smartphone that one has no idea about or what the competition will be offering at that point of time. Will you go for it if it became available in your country?
Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
We have had a good look at the Gear S3 Classic and the Frontier back in September when it was showcased at the IFA, but it hasn't hit all the major markets around the world yet. However, that is about to change because the two smartwatches just went on sale in South Korea. They will also be going on sale in markets around the world in the upcoming weeks, starting with the US, the UK, Germany France, Australia, Dubai and Singapore on November 18.
Both smartwatches will be running on Samsung's own Tizen OS, but only the Frontier has LTE connectivity via an embedded SIM. The S3 Frontier will be coming to T-Mobile in the US, but do check with your local carrier to know if the watch will be supported by them. All other features including the GPS navigation, the IP68 waterproofing and the heart-monitor are identical. Although Samsung Pay is supported by both the smartwatches, the facility will only be available in the US, Australia and Singapore at the moment.
Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
Samsung's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea has been raided by the country's national prosecutors yesterday. The raid was part of the investigation that was put into place after Samsung Electronics was accused of transferring money to Choi Soon-sil via her daughter. Choi Soon-sil is a close associate/friend of President Park Geun-hye, in addition to being a religious/cult leader. She is accused of using her connection to the President to both influence politics, as well as seeking business "donations" from different organizations.
The accusation against Samsung dictates that a business which is co-owned by Choi Soon-sil and her daughter Jeong Yu-ra had received over €2.8 million/$3.1 million/£2.5 million from Samsung Electronics to fund Ms Choi's horse riding courses in Germany. Although Samsung did confirm the raid, on being prodded further regarding the matter, they opted to state "no further comment."
It seems like Samsung just can't catch a break in 2016. After the international Note 7 disaster, this political scandal will only hamper the already tarnished reputation of Samsung even further. Nevertheless, it is being investigated to see if Samsung was "victimized" through political pressure.
Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
Some customers and even techies are complaining that some of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ displays are currently showing a reddish tint. The red tinge issue was slowly starting to become a headache for Samsung because of all the bad PR that it was bringing to the company. They have only just started to leave the Note 7 disaster behind and move ahead, so this is definitely not something that Samsung would want to see being escalated. Samsung did mention that they will be addressing the problem with an update and they have released that update earlier today in South Korea.
The OTA update with firmware version G950NKSU1AQDG for the S8 will now add one extra setting to the phone's display section, which will give users the power to control "full screen color balance." Hopefully, this will enable users to adjust the screen until the reddish hue disappears. Additionally, another newly added option called the Screen Edge Color Balance can be used to adjust the color balance on the curved edges of the display. Samsung will most likely be releasing this update everywhere, but that isn't official news as of yet.
Via: SamMobile
Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
Samsung promised a lot of things regarding Bixby during the launch event of the Galaxy S8 back in March. However, it disappointed fans across the world when Bixby was released with minimal features which did not even include basic voice commands that every other AI powered smartphone assistant has at this point of time. It only included Bixby Vision and a few other features like Bixby Home and Reminder; all of which has potential but feels incomplete nonetheless. That situation is about to change though as Samsung is now rolling out an update which will enable voice functionalities on Bixby. Currently, it is only going live in South Korea, but I am pretty sure the international rollouts should start within the next few days.
Now that voice command on the S8 is finally a possibility with Bixby, we will have to wait and see if it's actually good enough to do "everything" like Samsung claimed it would be during the launch event, or if it was just a gimmick. In any case, life is going to be hard for Bixby in the nations where Google Assistant is available for use. With its superior set of features, vast experience and the magic that is Google, the Assistant might prove too tough to compete with for Bixby; especially since the S8 also has it right out of the box!
Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
Yes you read that right and no this isn't one of those eye-catching clickbait titles either. You can actually buy a Galaxy S8 in its home nation for a price lower than $180 ($177)/200,000 Won, but it wouldn't be "legal" as per Samsung's stipulations.
Reports have confirmed that certain online and offline retailers are providing their customers with subsidies worth a minimum of 600,000 Korean Won or $530 roughly! This effectively cuts down the S8's marked price of 935,000 Won ($825 roughly) to a selling price of 335,000 Won or about $295. Mind you, that's the "least" amount of subsidy on offer here. Legally, the retailer cannot sell the phone below 753,000 won or about $665.
If you are wondering why the retailers would do that, it is supposedly a ploy to keep their customers according to the reports. If you are wondering how they would make a profit out of virtually giving away such expensive smartphones, we have no clue either! Whatever the reasons are, I bet you are feeling pretty jealous right now.
Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
LG won the Lollipop update race with the impending rollout of the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for its LG G3 flagship. The three major carriers in South Korea will get the update at roughly the same time.
The 5.0 update brings a new default runtime ART which offers speed improvements. LG has also added a smart lock system that is disabled when a trusted Bluetooth device is in range. Support for smartwatches, TVs and tablets has also been improved.
The company first released the update in Poland clearly a test rollout to catch any last minute issues before the rollout to bigger markets begins. The plan is to get the update released fully around the world by the end of the year.
The Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the LG G2 looks to be happening right now for some users in South Korea.
According to LG Phone Firmware, which tracks the company's progress on updating its smartphones, the Lollipop update for the phone is seeding right now for LG G2 units working on SK Telecom and LG U+ networks.
Customers who bought the LG G5 flagship smartphone this year will get a chance to test out the upcoming Android OS version 7.0 Nougat before anyone else. However, there are two catches to this; you will have to be in South Korea and even then, the number of people chosen for the beta testing will be very limited. When LG means limited, they mean it as the total number of smartphones which will be allowed in the closed beta program is just two thousand.
The user will need to download and install an app called OS Preview from the Play Store in order to get registered for the beta program, if they are chosen. Needless to say, if you are in the US or in any other country for that matter, the application will not be found on your version of the Play Store. Although LG has not mentioned anything to indicate that the preview will also be made available in other countries, we are hoping that it might be so later on.
Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
LG Optimus G Pro is about two years old, but still LG updated the phone to the latest Android 5.0. Lollipop update. The update is now officially available in South Korea, LG's home country, so we hope that Optimus G Pro owners in other parts of the world will also get the new OS at some point.
At launch, the Optimus G Pro ran Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. This is LG's last flagship handset to use the "Optimus" brand, while also being the company's first phablet to sport a 1080 x 1920 pixels display (measuring 5.5 inches).
Source [LG Korea]
LG Mobile is ready to launch a new budget-friendly smartphone in the US. The new LG K31 features some modest specifications and is sold as an unlocked phone in the US. The LG K31 features a 5.7-inch Full vision HD+ display with a waterdrop notch and Panda king glass screen protection. The phone belongs to the budget category, so its thick bezels can be forgiven. There is an Helio P22 octa-core processor under the hood along with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
The phone features a 13MP f/1.8 PDAF primary camera on the rear side that is paired with a 5MP ultra-wide-angle camera which comes with a 120 field of view. For taking selfies, you get a 5MP front-facing camera. The phone comes with features like video calling, Gesture shot, auto shot, and gesture interval shot. The phone has a fingerprint scanner as an extra layer of protection, which is placed under the horizontally-placed camera layout at the rear side. The phone is powered by a non-removable 3000mAh battery that charges via a micro USB port. The phone has an audio jack at the bottom. The phone has another physical button at the right side of the device to be used the power button while the left side features a volume rocker, a dedicated Google Assistant key, and the SIM tray.
The device has support for a micro SD card but the maximum capacity is 32GB. The LG K31 is MIL-STD 810G compliant and has an M3/TR hearing aid rating. The phone runs on Android 10 out of the box with LG user interface 9.1 on the top. The phone is priced at $149.99 and is available in silver color. The phone is available for purchase on the official LG website.
Samsung's flagship smartphone the Galaxy S5 launched in 2014 has finally started getting the much awaited Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update. Last month this update was released to the S6 and S6 edge smartphones. Now this upgrade is getting rolled out to all the unlocked devices of the Galaxy S5 with model number SM-G900L running on LG Uplus carrier in South Korea.
There are number of new features in this latest open-source operating system offered by Google.Apart from that it packages bug fixes, better performance and speed improvements, primarily targeted towards improving user experience.
If you own a S5 (SM-G900L), and yet to receive the OTA notification, the update can be manually checked from the settings menu of the phone.
As promised by Samsung, the beta version of Android 7.0 Nougat is now live for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, but unfortunately, it is only available in South Korea at this moment. Even though multiple reports had confirmed that the UK would be the first region where Samsung will start the beta testing from, they turned out to be wrong.
Any eligible Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge from LG Uplus, KT Corporation or SK Telecom will be able to download the 1.3GB (roughly) beta update, provided that they have signed up for the program and had been selected. A beta version of the Grace UX with features similar to those found on the discontinued Note 7 (Always On display for example) has made it to Nougat as expected.
The Good news for the particularly enthusiastic among us is the fact that a beta firmware based on Android 7.0 Nougat has now leaked online as well. We recommend waiting until Samsung starts to roll out the program to your region, but if you know what you are doing, you can give it a try at your own risk! In case you do flash it, the firmware version should change to G930FXXU1ZPK4 on the S7 and G935FXXU1ZPK4 on the S7 Edge.
Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)
If you live somewhere besides South Korea and you own last year's Samsung Galaxy Note 5, then it might surprise you a little that the stylus powered smartphone is getting its second Android M update in South Korea. While it is natural for Samsung to release the updates first in their own nation, it is harsh to see that they are releasing a second update based on Android 6.0.1 in South Korea while their customers in many of the other areas are still stuck with Android Lollypop 5.1.1 on their Note 5 smartphones.
According to reports, the initial update to Android M did not go very smoothly for South Korean users. There were complaints of fast battery drain, incompatibility with Samsung's own Gear VR headset and general bugs in day to day usage. This update to build number N920LKLU2BPB2 will supposedly address those problems. It has already been made available for download from all the main carriers in South Korea. Although it is a good gesture from Samsung to release a major update on such short notice, their customers from certain other parts of the world may feel a bit disappointed at not getting the same level of attention.
We will keep you posted as soon as we hear more about when Android M is coming to the Galaxy Note 5 in other geographical locations around the world.
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