Tech News

A software update has been released for the Galaxy Watch Active 2 in the US today, and it makes an important change: After the update is installed, the touch bezel on the watch will be turned on by default. As we had reported, one of the Galaxy Watch Active 2’s key features, the virtual touch bezel, comes disabled out of the box and requires the user to take a trip into the Galaxy Wearable app on their connected smartphone to manually enable it. Anyone who hasn’t enabled it on their watch yet will find that the touch bezel will be activated on its own once they install the update that’s rolling out for Samsung’s latest smartwatch.

It’s rather unclear how or why Samsung shipped the Galaxy Watch Active 2 out to customers with the touch bezel setting set to be disabled by default, but the company is now making the necessary correction. The update — sporting build number R820XXU1BSI9 for the 44mm Wi-Fi version of the watch — also improves GPS performance and the accuracy of the battery level indicator on watch faces. A similar update is likely to roll out for the 40mm and cellular variants – the update should also be making its way to markets outside the US in the near future, and we will be sure to let you know once that happens.

To check if the update is available for your watch, open the Galaxy Wearable app on your connected phone, select About Watch, followed by Update watch software, and then tap the Update now button. The update will also show up on its own via a notification on your phone if you don’t manually check for it, although that can take a few days.

Thanks for the tip, Jake McCabe!

The post Galaxy Watch Active 2 update sets touch bezel setting on by default appeared first on SamMobile.

vivo unveiled the NEX 3 5G last month in two memory versions - 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB. The 8GB RAM variant was already available for purchase in China, and starting today, the 12GB RAM version goes on sale for CNY6,198 ($870/€795). You can buy the vivo NEX 3 5G 12GB RAM variant from the company's official China site and online retailers like TMall, JD.com, and Suning.com. The vivo NEX 3 5G is built around a 6.89" Waterfall Display and has a Snapdragon 855+ SoC at the helm. It sports a 64MP triple camera at the back and has a 16MP selfie camera mounted on a pop-up mechanism. You...

Galaxy S10 owners in Canada can now download an update with the September 2019 security patch. However, they will be disappointed to find that the update does not bring any of the Galaxy Note 10 features that the Exynos-powered Galaxy S10 devices received with the September update in other markets. Only the new security patch is included in the update, which bumps the software version up to G97*WVLS2ASI6.

The September update is available on all carriers in Canada and is rolling out over the air. You should be able to download it on your S10e, S10, or S10+ from the Software update menu of the Settings app, though it may not be immediately available for all users as these updates are released in stages. Firmware for the latest software version are available in our firmware archive for those who would like to upgrade their device manually instead of waiting for the OTA update.

When can Canadian users — and those in the US — expect to get the update with those Galaxy Note 10 features? Well, it’s hard to say at this time, as even Exynos Galaxy S10 devices are yet to receive it in every market. Samsung is taking things slower than usual, perhaps because of the sheer number of new features that are included in the latest update, so there may be a long wait in store for Galaxy S10 owners in the US and Canada.

The post Galaxy S10 September update out for Canada, no new features included appeared first on SamMobile.

The latest report from Huawei Central cites industry sources about Huawei's next-generation Kirin processor. Supposedly called the Kirin 1000, it will be Huawei's first chipset built on the 5nm process and said to launch in the second half of 2020. The source says Huawei has begun trial production of the chipset and the Kirin 1000 would use A77 architecture cores (the 990 uses A76). We can expect the Kirin 1000 to be even faster while consuming even less battery life. Like the 990, we can expect the Kirin 1000 to be configured with 5G radios built in. Huawei Mate 30...

The latest variant of the Moto One series was spotted on a Saudi Arabian retail website, but the listing has been taken down. A tipster provided us with an image of the phone and some of the specs from the listing. The spotted device is called the Moto One Macro and its headline feature could be a 2MP macro camera. It has two other main cameras: a main 13Mp sensor and another 2MP sensor, which we suspect to be a depth sensor. Moto One Macro Based on the image above, we are also looking at laser assisted autofocus and a rear fingerprint scanner. There is also a...

Google is set to announce the Pixel 4 and 4 XL on October 15 and the phone has already leaked on several previous occasions. The latest few ads posted by Google are touting the Pixel's various features. The #SwitchtoPixel campaign consists of four videos released on the ‘Made by Google' YouTube channel. Each video features customer testimonies of their experiences pertaining to Unlimited Google Photos storage, camera experience, process of transferring data, and battery life. The ‘Get it Together' video above shows a person's testimony using an older-generation Pixel,...

Samsung has started rolling out the first firmware update for the Galaxy Fold 5G. It’s a minor update that doesn’t bring much in the way of new features. It’s certainly not like the significant update released for the Galaxy S10 recently which brought over many of the new features introduced with the Galaxy Note 10.

What this update does bring is the Link to Windows feature that debuted on the Galaxy Note 10 as well. No additional features have been ported over to Samsung’s foldable smartphone as yet but many would hope that Samsung does that soon.

Samsung rolls out firmware Galaxy Fold 5G firmware update

Samsung recently brought over camera features like AR Doodle and Night mode for the front camera to the Galaxy S10 from the Galaxy Note 10. A new Live focus effect has been ported over as well. This update does none of that for the Galaxy Fold 5G.

What the first Galaxy Fold 5G firmware update does bring is the Link to Windows feature. As we’ve explained before, this is nothing more than a glorified shortcut for Microsoft’s Your Phone app. You can already use this feature even on older devices.

Samsung is rolling out firmware version F907BXXU1ASHA for the Galaxy Fold 5G. We do have it readily available for download from our firmware section. It will gradually make its way to markets where the 5G version is being sold. There are only a handful of them outside of South Korea. You may recall that Samsung isn’t selling the 5G variant of its foldable smartphone in the United States.

The post First Galaxy Fold 5G firmware update adds Link to Windows appeared first on SamMobile.

Air Actions is the latest addition to the Galaxy Note family. The feature was introduced along with the new S Pen version paired with the Galaxy Note 10. For the first time in the series, the latest S Pen features an internal gyroscope. The hardware is being put to practical use through what Samsung calls Air Actions; or to be more specific, a sub-section of Air Actions which covers gestures.

Galaxy Note 10 Air Actions allows users to remotely-control certain apps through the S Pen physical button and internal gyroscope. Supported apps allow you to control various aspects by pressing or double-pressing the S Pen button, or through so-called ‘air gestures’ by holding the button pressed and swiping the S Pen left, right, up, and down in the air. (If you’re having trouble with gesture recognition, this story might help).

This guide will explain all you need to know about setting up Air Actions.

How to set up Air Actions

Step 1 – Accessing the Air Actions Menu: Open Settings and access Advanced features. Select S Pen and go to Air actions. Make sure the feature is enabled. If necessary, tap the On/Off toggle.

Step 2 – App actions: This is technically Air Actions implemented at its best. The App actions list contains all the apps that fully support Air Actions and, as you can probably tell, the range is fairly limited. However, supported apps offer a wide range of options for remote-controlling. Samsung will open up the Air Actions SDK to developers so expect third-party apps to support this down the line.

Users can select an app and determine the behavior of all the gestures, including single and double button presses, as well as air gestures. Each app offers its own set of commands for each gesture (but not always for all of them), so there’s a bit of customization to be had here.

Step 3 – General controls: These are similar to App actions but work for unsupported apps; therefore the controls/gestures are generalized instead of having a separate profile for each app. You can change the behavior of all the gestures by tapping the blue text. You can also disable the Single and Double-press gestures, or disable the remote shutter functionality for the Camera app.

Step 4: Holding down the S Pen button has its own practical use that is independent of App actions and General controls. You can assign this command to launch an app or summon an Air command tool even when you’re actively using another app in the foreground. We recommend assigning this command to an app or feature that works well with the S Pen, such as Create note.

Do you use Air Actions, and if so, how often? What are the use cases in which Air Actions has been the most useful to you? And if you haven’t tried Air Actions yet, are you looking forward to it? Join us in the comment section below and feel free to check out our other Galaxy Note 10 tips covering additional S Pen details, battery life guides, and more.

Galaxy Note 10

• Model: SM-N970F
• Dimensions: 151.0 x71.8x7.9mm
• Display: 6.3"(160.02mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9825
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS F2.2 Telephoto & 12MP F1.5/F2.4 77° & 16MP F2.2 123° Ultra-wide

More specifications

Galaxy Note 10+

• Model: SM-N975F
• Dimensions: 162.3 x 77,2 x 7.9mm
• Display: 6.8"(172.7mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9825
• Camera: 12 Ultra Wide: 16MP F2.2 (123°) & Wide-angle: 12MP 2PD AF F1.5/F2.4 OIS (77°) & Telephoto: 12MP F2.1 OIS (45°) & DepthVision Camera: VGA

More specifications

The post How to set up and customize Galaxy Note 10 Air Actions appeared first on SamMobile.

According to popular Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is working on high-end iPad and MacBook with the most advanced displays ever. The panels will be based on the mini-LED technology and are expected to hit the market sometime between late 2020 and mid-2020. Both, the MacBook and the iPad, will use around 10,000 LEDs for the displays, which in turn is a huge jump from the 576 LEDs in Apple's upcoming Pro Display XDR. Each LED will be under 2000 microns in size, The panels will be between 10 and 12" for the iPad Pro and 15-17" for the MacBook Pro. Given that mid-sized OLED panels...

Honor is preparing another phone for debut alongside the recently teased V30. Carrying the model number LRA-AL00 it was certified by China's CCC agency and according to speculation will be the next addition to Honor's Note line, succeeding the Honor Note 10. CCC certification While the certification only reveals that the device will ship with a 20W charger, a Chinese tipster claims the phone will come with the Kirin 810 chipset and a 64MP main camera around the back. The device will be priced in the midrange segment and should be revealed alongside the Honor V30 in late...

Earlier today the Realme CMO teased a new phone, called Realme X2 Pro and powered by the Snapdragon 855 Plus. Several hours later the Chief Product Officer also chimed in on Weibo, this time with a screenshot. The post simply says "here's a little gift for National Day #X2Pro" and the image attached reveals a toggle between 60 Hz and 90 Hz refresh rate for the upcoming device. Are we going to see OnePlus 7T's display on a Realme phone? This is not the first time Dereck Wang is teasing the new refresh rate - earlier this month he said that Realme's 90 Hz device is on its way and it...

Apple's new iPhone 11 lineup seems to be doing quite well in India according to recent reports. The phones were released on Friday with strong consumer interest comparable to that of the iPhone 6 launch according to Tarun Pathak from Counterpoint Research. Pre-bookings opened on September 20 and the two leading retailers Amazon India and Flipkart ran out of stock just three days later. Consumers were queuing for hours in front of retailers across the country to pick up their new iPhones. As expected, the iPhone 11 was the most sought after model among the three. Apple's new...

In-ear headphones are versatile. They’re perfect to use during your commute, in the office or while working out. The design makes sure they stay in your ear so you can move freely. They also have a built-in microphone (compatible with Samsung smartphones) so you can take calls with them too. At 60% off, this is a great opportunity to get a couple of headphones in so you’ll never have to go without them.

Hit the Buy Now button below and order them before they’re out of stock!

The post Daily Deal: 60% off Samsung Active InEar Headphones appeared first on SamMobile.

The Meizu 16T will be unveiled on October 23 according to a leaked invite. The event will be held in Beijing and promises "big screen entertainment". Luckily, AnTuTu spotted the phone in its database and revealed more details. Meizu 16T invite • AnTuTu result The 16T will be powered by a Snapdragon 855 chipset like the 16s. The scores are a bit low for this chipset, but this is likely due to the prototype status of the device. It certainly doesn't look like a Snapdragon 855+, anyway (that's the chipset in the more premium 16s Pro phone). Total score 418,909 ...

Samsung will supply Japan’s second-largest mobile carrier, KDDI, with 5G network equipment. According to a Samsung official cited by The Korea Times, the company “[…] won a contract to supply its 5G network equipment to KDDI,” however, the value of the contract was not disclosed.

KDDI and Samsung have been testing 5G equipment over the past few years. In 2018 the companies showcased the power of 5G by successfully conducting a real-time free-viewpoint video stream test. Therefore, KDDI’s decision to acquire 5G network equipment from Samsung isn’t unexpected, especially since Huawei was banned from official contracts last year by the Japanese government.

Nevertheless, Samsung will not be the only company responsible for building KDDI’s 5G infrastructure. The Korean tech giant will work alongside Ericsson and Nokia to complete the contract over the next five years.

2020 is the year of 5G

Japan is reportedly making a greater effort towards implementing 5G before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Samsung aims to secure 20 percent of the global network equipment market by 2020, and the contract with KDDI brings the company one step closer to its goal. Samsung is, of course, an official Worldwide Olympic Partner and is bound to sponsor the 2020 Tokyo Olympics despite the trade tensions between Japan and South Korea.

Samsung Mobile is one of the few OEMs to offer 5G-capable smartphones and has already unveiled its first 5G integrated chipset, the Exynos 980. It’s going to enter mass production by the end of the year and could power devices from the Galaxy A (2020) series.

The post Japan’s KDDI signs contract for Samsung 5G network equipment appeared first on SamMobile.

AR Doodle is a camera feature that debuted on the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+, but it didn’t stay exclusive to the two Notes for long as Samsung brought it over to the Galaxy S10 lineup with a software update starting September 23. AR Doodle is a fun little video recording feature that allows you to draw on top of whatever it is you’re recording with the phone’s camera. These drawings — doodles, to be more precise — maintain their original position, so if you doodle something on a person’s face, the doodle will follow the face as the camera moves around and will show up every time that’s person’s face is in the frame.

AR Doodle also works for videos without people in them. In such videos, each doodle will stay fixed in the place where you drew them, and the doodle will show up every time the camera is aimed at that place. AR Doodle is loads of fun, and while the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 10/10+ makes for sharper doodles, the feature works pretty well on the Galaxy S10 lineup as well. You can use AR Doodle for both the front and rear cameras (you can only doodle on faces with the front camera) and create doodles in real-time while a video is being recorded or doodle before you start video recording.

Check out the video below for a short glimpse on what AR Doodle is all about. This is from our Galaxy Note 10+ review, and the AR Doodle bit comes up at the 2 minute 20 second mark and goes on until the 2 minute 39 second mark.

The software update that introduces AR Doodle to the Galaxy S10e/S10/S10+ is being released in stages and will take time to reach all countries and all users, but those who have received the update already might be wondering where the AR Doodle feature is located. On the Galaxy Note 10/10+, it can be accessed from the S Pen’s dedicated Air Command menu; on the Galaxy S10, it can be found in the camera’s video recording mode.

AR Doodle is accessed from the camera’s video recording mode

Here’s what you need to do to fire up AR Doodle on the Galaxy S10e, S10, or S10+: Open the Camera app, switch to the Video mode, then hit the AR Doodle icon on the top right corner of the display (see the icon marked in red in the screenshot below). You will be taken to the AR Doodle interface, where you can switch between Face and Everywhere mode depending on whether it’s someone’s face you wish to doodle on or on your general surroundings and also find a variety of pen styles and font colors to choose from.

The post Where to find the AR Doodle camera feature on the Galaxy S10 appeared first on SamMobile.

Realme landed an important update for its C2 smartphone bringing a handful of improvements including the September security patch. The changelog talks about a new manual lock feature by long pressing the power button. There's also a new nifty option to limit the network speed for devices connected to the phone's hotspot. Google's Digital Wellbeing is now available too. The lock screen clock widget design has been revamped along with the date and weather widget while Smart Assistance receives interface improvements. The Notification Center and the Status bar have also been tweaked...

Samsung has sweetened the deal for US buyers that are still undecided on which flagship to choose - the Galaxy Note10+ and Note10+ 5G now come with a free set of Galaxy Buds and a Galaxy Fit smart band. These cost $130 and $100, respectively, for a total of $230. If you prefer other accessories, you can choose $200 store credit instead (enough for an original Watch Active, but $80 short of the Watch Active2 price). There are more goodies too, 6 months of Spotify Premium and 4 months of YouTube Premium. Not quite a 1-year subscription to Apple TV+ like you get with a new iPhone, but...

Samsung has opened a new showcase venue for ‘The Wall’ displays in Korea today. The ‘experience space’ is set up at ODEPort, a high-end audio store in Seoul’s Gangnam district. This is the first such showcase in Korea and the third one globally. The other two venues are the Harrods department store and the Samsung KX experience center – both of which are in London.

The Korean tech giant is displaying the 146-inch ‘The Wall Luxury’ screen at the new outlet. The company has collaborated with the Danish audio brand ODE for the showcase, enabling Visitors to experience ‘The Wall Luxury’ modular display combined with ODE’s high-end Steinway Lyngdorf audio system ‘Model O.’

The Wall showcase will operate on a 1: 1 reservation basis, whereby the company’s representatives will provide visitors with customized concierge services such as consulting, experience, purchasing, installation, etc.

The Wall lineup is currently Samsung’s most premium display offering. Though these high-end screens can be used as TVs, the company prefers not to use that term. These are MicroLED panels that are technologically superior to both QLEDs and OLEDs. First unveiled at CES 2018, the size of these high-end displays can be customized by adding or removing the bezel-less display models.

The post Samsung opens a showcase venue for ‘The Wall’ displays in Korea appeared first on SamMobile.

The Honor 9X and 9X Pro have been selling well and Honor is bringing a new colorway called Icelandic White in an attempt to maintain the momentum. A similar-looking color was previously released on the Honor 20 Pro. Up until now, the 9X was available in Magic Night Black, Charm Sea Blue and Charm Red while the Pro version was also offered in Phantom Purple. The new colorway features a shifting tint with hints of pink, yellow and blue mimicking the light refraction properties of snow. The Icelandic White Honor 9X will be available in China starting tomorrow. There is no word on...

Samsung has been facing a challenging business environment for the past few quarters. That was reflected in the company’s bottom line. Its profit plunged by 56 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

The primary reason is the supply glut of NAND flash and DRAM chips. Semiconductors account for a significant chunk of the company’s revenues and as prices have declined, so have its profits. Analysts now predict a 60.2 percent decline in Samsung’s Q3 2019 operating profit compared to Q3 2018. The projected figures will actually be an improvement compared to the second quarter of this year.

Samsung Q3 2019 operating profit shows slight improvement

Q3 2018 was a particularly good quarter for Samsung. It posted over $15.5 billion in operating profit on revenues of over $57.5 billion. It actually smashed its own record for the highest profit ever in a single quarter. It was driven to this peak due to the stellar performance of the semiconductor business. Samsung did warn back then that it expected earnings to drop in the following quarters due to weak seasonality for the semiconductor market.

The first and second quarters of this year saw a considerable decline in revenues and profits as demand didn’t pick up in the semiconductor market. Seasonal weakness also led to weak overall market demand for smartphones. Samsung did expect things to look up in the second half of this year with demand for NAND and DRAM increasing. The new Galaxy Note series would provide a much-needed boost to its mobile division as well.

Seoul-based financial data provider FnGuide has compiled analysts’ estimates for Samsung’s Q3 2019 operating profit which come in at $5.83 billion for the July-September period, a slight increase over the $5.6 billion operating profit posted in Q2 2019. Revenues are projected to hit almost $50 billion compared to $48 billion in the previous quarter. This will actually be the first time that revenues will hit this mark after the third quarter of last year.

Analysts attribute the slight improvement in Samsung’s financials to strong demand for its latest premium smartphones, higher demand for semiconductors and a favorable exchange rate environment. Samsung will release its earnings guidance for the third quarter early next month.

The post Samsung Q3 2019 operating profit may fall by 60% appeared first on SamMobile.

As part of its ongoing Big Billion Days sale, Indian retailer Flipkart is selling the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ at a considerable discount. The regular Galaxy S9 is available from Flipkart for Rs. 29,999 (~$425), nearly 52% off its maximum retail price, while the S9+ can be purchased for Rs. 34,999 (~$495), or 50% less than its maximum retail price. It’s worth noting that Flipkart has jacked up the list price to make the discounts seem bigger than they actually are, but both phones are nonetheless available for very attractive prices as part of the promotion.

Samsung India has the same discount for the Galaxy S9 on its official store but is selling the S9+ for Rs. 61,900; combined with faster delivery times, Flipkart is where those interested in either phone should make the purchase. The Galaxy S9+ in particular is a very attractive option here. It may be more than a year old at this point, but its specs are still solid and include many of the same features as the Galaxy S10, like powerful stereo speakers and a 12MP Dual Aperture rear camera with dedicated Night mode. It’s powered by the Exynos 9810 SoC, has 6GB of RAM, and runs Android Pie and will get an update to Android 10.

Head on over to Flipkart.com to buy the Galaxy S9 (link) or S9+ (link). Do hurry, as the deal may not last very long. If you have a more limited budget, you can also look at the Galaxy M30s, which went on sale in the country over the weekend and offers amazing value for money.

Galaxy S9

• Model: SM-G960F
• Dimensions: 147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5mm
• Display: 5.8” (146.5mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS OIS (F1.5/F2.4)

More specifications

Galaxy S9+

• Model: SM-G965F
• Dimensions: 157.7 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm
• Display: 6.2” (158.1mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS Dual OIS (F1.5/F2.4) & Telephoto: 12MP AF F2.4)

More specifications

The post Flipkart India offering huge discount on Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ appeared first on SamMobile.

When Xiaomi had a launch last week, we all expected the Mi Mix 4 with 5G capabilities alongside the Mi 9 Pro 5G. Well, Lei Jun surprised everyone and only introduced the concept Mi Mix Alpha with wrap-around screen. Some self-appointed leaksters kept suggesting Mi Mix 4 is coming, including with dubious screenshots, while other just kept bombarding Xiaomi executives with questions about more phones, so one company executive took it to Weibo to clear up the situation. The Xiaomi brand promotion manager directly said there is only Mi Mix Alpha and no other Mi Mix smartphone on its way....

With EMUI 10 beta testing recruitment now in full swing, Huawei just announced the next batch of devices that are getting access to the new firmware. The list includes phones from both Huawei and Honor brands as well as two Huawei tablets and is divided into open and closed beta testing. The updates will come between October and December depending on the device. EMUI 10 beta update schedule EMUI 10 (Open Beta) Huawei P30 / P30 Pro (Mid October) Huawei Mate 20 / Mate 20 Pro / Mate 20X (4G) / Mate 20 RS Porsche (Late October) Honor 20 / Honor 20 Pro / Honor V20 / Honor Magic 2...

As a limited time offer, Samsung is giving away a Galaxy Fit and the Galaxy Buds for free with every Galaxy Note 10+ purchase in the US. Bought separately, the Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Fit would set you back by $229.98, making this is a pretty impressive deal for what is Samsung’s most impressive Galaxy Note flagship yet. And the free Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Fit make sense when you consider that the Note 10+ does not have either a 3.5mm headphone jack or a heart rate sensor, two features that were once taken for granted on Samsung’s flagship phones.

Samsung isn’t limiting the deal to any particular storage, color, or carrier variant of the Note 10+. You can go with any carrier of your choice or select the unlocked variant – you can also grab the 5G Galaxy Note 10+ from Verizon if you like. The free Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Fit will be added to your order automatically once you’ve made your storage, carrier, and color choices, but if you don’t want these wearables, you can instead opt for $200 of Samsung.com credit that you can spend on buying a different product from the company’s official website.

In addition to the free wearables (or the $200 credit), customers also get free access to Spotify Premium and YouTube Premium for six and four months respectively, an offer that is also applicable to the regular Galaxy Note 10. If you’ve been looking to buy a Galaxy Note 10+ in the US, this may be the perfect time to pick one up, so go ahead and visit Samsung’s website to make the purchase.

Don’t forget to check out our Galaxy Buds review and Galaxy Fit review to see what these two devices are all about.

The post Get free Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Fit with Galaxy Note 10+ in the US appeared first on SamMobile.

Realme X2 arrived last week with Snapdragon 730G chipset, and it looks like a Pro variant will be unveiled sooner than expected. Xu Qi Chase, the Chief Marketing Officer at the company, posted on Weibo that the first Realme flagship with Snapdragon 855 Plus is coming soon, and its code name is Super Warrior/Samurai (depending on the translation). Interestingly enough, Chase posted the message with a device called "Realme X2 Pro Super Samurai", pretty much confirming the name of the new device. We are not yet sure whether or not Realme is planning to upgrade only the chipset. In...

Galaxy A50 owners who have been wondering why Samsung hasn’t yet sent out the September security update for their device are in for a surprise: The Korean giant has decided to skip ahead to the October security patch for the Galaxy A50 and is rolling out an update with the next month’s patch in some countries. The update, carrying software version A505FNXXS2ASJ1, is out in Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and a few countries in Southeast Europe.

For now, we don’t know if the update also brings something of note other than a security patch from the future. And, as it’s not October yet, neither Google nor Samsung has posted details of the vulnerabilities that have been fixed in the October patch, so we’re currently in the dark as to what is included in the newest Galaxy A50 update. But if you own the device and have received the update, you can tell us if you see something in the changelog about new features or improvements by leaving a comment down below.

We should note that it’s possible Samsung will not skip the September patch for the Galaxy A50 in every country or bring the October patch to everyone, as the A50 is in the quarterly schedule for security updates and is technically not expected to be updated every month. To check if the update is available for you, open the Settings app on your A50, tap Software update, then select the Download and install option. You can also choose to upgrade by downloading the firmware for the latest update from our firmware archive and flashing it manually on your phone using a Windows PC.

The post October security update rolling out for the Galaxy A50 appeared first on SamMobile.

A dedicated section for Galaxy Fold themes has gone live on the Galaxy Store. Samsung’s foldable phone-cum-tablet is, at long last, available for purchase and has been making its way into the hands of consumers in the last week or so, and while it may have a unique form factor, a lot of the software experience is going to be the same as on other Galaxy devices. That includes support for themes, and exclusive options that are designed for the Galaxy Fold are now available for download.

As you would expect, these themes apply to both the 4.6-inch cover screen and the 7.3-inch main display, but there’s nothing else here that can be considered special or unique. Also, none of the themes available right now are, well, attractive. However, the quality and variety of the themes should improve as time goes by and more theme makers jump onboard. It’s also worth noting that these exclusive themes are all free options – paid themes will no doubt start showing up in the coming weeks, and you might want to wait for those if it’s quality you’re after.

To access these exclusive Galaxy Fold themes, pinch the home screen on your Fold, tap Themes, then look for the banner that says “Exclusive and free premium themes for Galaxy Fold devices” (or something to that effect) under the Featured tab. Tap this banner to see and download available themes. You can also find a banner for these themes in the Galaxy Store app on your Galaxy Fold. Don’t have a Fold but want its official wallpapers for your smartphone or tablet? You can download those here!

The post Exclusive Galaxy Fold themes now available on the Galaxy Store appeared first on SamMobile.

Huawei might have troubles launching its phones with Google services, but it keeps researching and developing new phones. We've already reported the upcoming Honor V30 will have 5G, which shouldn't be a surprise, but the latest leak, coming from China, gives us a sneak peek of what to expect. According to some insiders, the V30 device will have a punch-hole display, just like the Honor V20 (View 20 on the global scene), but this time it will have two shooters, instead of one, a spy picture reveals. The screen appears to have slightly curved edges on the screen, with the side...

There were two major events this week. First Xiaomi unveiled the Mi Mix Alpha with a wrap-around OLED screen, 180% screen-to-body ratio, a 108MP camera and Snapdragon 855+. It will cost CNY 19,999 when it is released in December. In more conventional smartphone news, Xiaomi announced the Mi 9 Pro with a Snapdragon 855+ and 45W charging - it starts at CNY3,699 ($520/€473) and is China-only for now. Wrapping up Xiaomi's announcements of the week the Redmi 8A is here with a Snapdragon 439 chipset and 5,000mAh battery and the MIUI 11 software is now in open beta, giving eager users a chance...

Two weeks back Apple's new 11 trio debuted and dominated our trending chart to be followed by the Huawei Mate 30 lineup last week. This time around it was Xiaomi's turn to show it latest and greatest and top the popularity contest. The Mi Mix Alpha may be nothing more than a concept device, but it's just so exciting that even people who know they'll never own it can't stop looking at it. Following it as a distant second is the Google Pixel 4 - that one is yet to go official, but with leaks so extensive we feel like it's been around for a while now. In third sits the Apple iPhone 11...

Two weeks back Apple's new 11 trio debuted and dominated our trending chart to be followed by the Huawei Mate 30 lineup last week. This time around it was Xiaomi's turn to show it latest and greatest and top the popularity contest. The Mi Mix Alpha may be nothing more than a concept device, but it's just so exciting that even people who know they'll never own it can't stop looking at it. Following it as a distant second is the Google Pixel 4 - that one is yet to go official, but with leaks so extensive we feel like it's been around for a while now. In third sits the Apple iPhone 11...

The OnePlus 7T feels more like the phones that made the company popular - while the 7 Pro was a pricey attempt to take on flagships, the 7T adds a lot the value proposition of the phone but not much to the price. Camera selection on pure or nearly pure Android phones is spotty at best. Few phones have wide, ultra-wide and telephoto cams on the back while avoiding heavy maker skins - Xperia 1 and 5 and the OnePlus 7 Pro. The Google Pixel 3, Asus Zenfone 6 and Xiaomi Mi A3 each have their compromises (i.e. not one of them has a tele cam and the Pixel's only ultra wide camera is on the...

LG has launched two new devices in the Indian market, the G8s ThinQ and the Q60. The LG G8s ThinQ looks similar to the more expensive G8 ThinQ but is a cutback version at a lower price. It has the same Snapdragon 855 chipset but the triple camera system on the back is slightly worse. The front camera system is also a bit worse but still has the ToF 3D camera for Hand ID. It also has a lower resolution 1080p display instead of 1440p. The G8s ThinQ has a 6.21-inch, 2248x1080 resolution OLED display. It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset with 6GB of memory and 128GB...

Last week's poll shows that buyers are faced with a dilemma - people love the new Huawei Mate 30 duo, but the no-Google situation means that many will hold off on buying one. Many in the comments are optimistic that manually installing Google Play Services is easy enough (after all, many do that to phones they imported from China). Some even seem happy enough to use Huawei's AppGallery instead. Still, instead of an overwhelmingly positive result, the phones got more of a lukewarm reception. Maybe things got a little warmer after the Mate 30 Pro climbed to the top of the DxOMark...

The OnePlus One was a dream phone - the dream of Pete Lau and Carl Pei. The two met at Oppo and eventually left together to form their own company based on the ideals of simplicity and quality, the "never settle" mantra was part of the company's mission statement from the beginning. Before we get to the phone, a short bio on the company's founders will help us understand how they got to where they are. Pete Lau worked at Oppo where as a Vice President he was instrumental of bringing CyanogenMod to the Oppo N1. Carl Pei was hired by Meizu after the Meizu fan site he created got popular and...

With the Meuzi 16 and 16s series in the past, it's time too look forward to the Meizu 17 and the first renders of the smartphone arrive just in time. As of now, there's only a render from the front revealing a curved screen design (could be an extreme, "waterfall" curve like the vivo NEX 3 or the Mate 30 Pro) or it could be just a standard curve like the Galaxy S and Note-series. Aside from that, we can see an under-display fingerprint reader - no surprises there - and super slim bottom and top bezels. The top one, however, is still big enough to house a selfie camera, crammed in...

According to a new patent, future iPhones might finally get LED notification light of some sort, which would double as an Apple logo too. The patent tells a story about a transparent layer on the back of a smartphone with adjustable decoration overlapping by the transparent layer changing the appearance of the light that comes out of the logo. There's also a control circuitry that can adjust the appearance in response to an event like a call or missed notification. It's interesting to see this feature being revived after it was removed from MacBooks. As some of you remember, the...

In an interview, Pete Lau, the company's CEO said that the the newly-announced OnePlus TVs will be produced in India by the end of the year. As for now, the TVs sold in India are imported from China with a starting price for the non-Pro model at INR 69,900. Gradually, TVs sold in the country will be produced within the borders, which could also mean that prices would go down a little due to the lack of import taxes and cost of labor. Unfortunately, the CEO also said that the company isn't planning affordable TVs in the near future and will focus on higher-end devices for...

Along with the new iOS 13 features, there will be some changes that not everyone would like. Case in point the the CPU throttling "feature" that Apple introduced with the rollout of iOS 13.1. Another thing that might put you off is the notification that would appear in case you've changed your screen with a non-genuine one. In an official statement by Apple, all handsets from the iPhone 11 family will prompt you with a message on the lock screen that your panel isn't genuine, or the repair wasn't performed by a certified Apple technician. This message will go on for four days and then...

According to a Japanese media, Sony has its next flagship phone in the works and as anyone would expect, it's going to utilize the successor to the Snapdragon 855 and 855+. The first evidence of such SoC has surfaced on Sony's firmware distribution server. The SoC has an internal model number SM8250 and it's widely believed that this is the chipset itself, for now, called Snapdragon 865. There's also a rumor going around that the chip will come out in two variants - with integrated 5G modem, like the recently launched Kirin 990, and one iteration with 4G connectivity. It would make...

YouTube Music was a logical successor to Google Play Music since the YouTube library is far superior to the one available to Google Play Music. And since yesterday, Google made that perfectly clear by announcing that future devices will come with pre-installed YouTube Music app. Each new phone coming with Android 10 and Android 9 out of the box, will swap the Google Play Music app for the YouTube Music app. However, current Google Play Music subscribers and users can still download the app from the Google Play store and enjoy their personal library. But with this step, it's clear...

The Oppo K5 with model number PCNM00 emerged earlier this week on TENAA with most of the specs and was later revealed that the handset will come alongside the Oppo Reno Ace flagship on October 10. Today, a Geekbench listing came out with a device named "Oppo PCNM00". It was the missing piece of the puzzle as the TENAA sheet revealed the clock speeds of the main cores - 2.2GHz, while the Geekbench score sheet gave out the energy-efficient cluster clocked at 1.8GHz. Putting two and two together lead us to believe that the SoC inside is Snapdragon 730. However, the Geekbench score...

Despite the long list of features that the OnePlus 7T has, there are a couple that are missing but were promised during the announcement. The Super Slow-Motion video recording is one of those functionalities and OnePlus said it would deliver with a future update. The company officially confirmed that it's planning to push a software update for the newly released phone that would bring Super Slow-Motion videos at 960fps in 720p resolution. This is a significant step from the previous OnePlus phones supporting 480fps recording in the same resolution. However, the sensor on the phone...

Main camera comparison (Daylight) We figured you've already seen each and every iPhone 11 Pro vs. iPhone XS camera comparison, so we chose to go back in time an extra year and see how things have changed since the iPhone X. Additionally, a lot of folks aren't willing to upgrade every year, and some need convincing even two years into it, so such a shootout would make sense to them. Daylight samples, main camera: iPhone 11 Pro • iPhone X It helps that the iPhone X generation wasn't among the most colorful shooters, so the 11 Pro doesn't look any more muted next to...

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy M30s in India last week as a mid-year refresh to the existing M30. It was scheduled to go on sale on September 29, but Amazon India has now revealed that Prime subscribers can buy the online-exclusive device a day early (i.e., starting today) on its website. Those without a Prime subscription can purchase the M30s from September 29 onwards as announced on both Amazon.in and the Samsung India online store.

The Galaxy M30s is priced at Rs. 13,999 (~$200) for the 4GB/64GB version and Rs. 16,999 (~$240) for the 6GB/128GB configuration. You can probably score additional discounts and mobile data benefits during Amazon’s Great Indian Festival Sale. The device will be available in Opal Black, Pearl White, and Sapphire Blue color options.

The Galaxy M30s boasts some significant upgrades over the M30. It packs a massive 6,000mAh battery and a new Exynos 9611 processor. Samsung has also bumped the resolution of the primary camera to 48 MP and ultrawide lens to 8 MP, along with bringing new camera features such as Super slow-mo, Super steady, Hyperlapse, 4K recording, and Night mode, etc.

If you are planning to buy the M30s, do check out our in-depth review to know how the device fares in real life. Simply put, it’s an easy-to-recommend phone since it builds on the successful foundation of the M30 and offers great value for money.

The post Galaxy M30s is now available for purchase in India appeared first on SamMobile.

The Realme 3 Pro is now receiving a new software update, version RMX1851EX_11_A.19, which brings quite a few new features that are definitely nice to have, and it also packs the September 2019 security patches. You get Google's Digital Wellbeing suite, a manual locking feature that is invoked by long-pressing the power button, as well as the ability to manually limit the network speed of devices connected to your Wi-Fi hotspot. Additionally, you'll have information about the amount of data consumed by connected devices, and there's also a customized data consumed reminder. Realme 3...

Despite a decline in global sales of Huawei devices, China's Mate 30 launch is seeing strong demand for the new Mate lineup. The Mate 30 series officially went on sale in China yesterday, September 26 where the phone maker sold over CNY 500 million ($70 million) in revenue from the new lineup in just the first minute of going on sale at VMall.com. Huawei debuted the 4G versions of its phones with plans to launch 5G variants in November. With the launch, Huawei sold the Mate 30 base model for CNY 3,999 (~$561), about 35% less than the €799 (~$874) retail price announced at the launch event...

The Motorola RAZR is one of the most iconic cell phones, selling over 130 million units during its lifespan. The company has previously revived the brand as the Droid RAZR with a line of thin Android phones, sold exclusively with Verizon in the US. An inside source tells CNET that the Motorola RAZR reboot is set to launch sometime before the year's end. We wonder if it was the same source that told CNET that the RAZR was supposed to launch this summer. However, it seems that foldable displays require more time - both Samsung and Huawei's frequently delayed launches of the Galaxy Fold and...