IFA Day 2: Samsung’s product showcase
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Samsung’s rumoured 18.4-inch tablet is likely the Samsung Galaxy View
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A few weeks ago, we heard about a tablet that Samsung was rumoured to be working on that had a 18.4-inch display – to put that in perspective, that’s about the size of the computer monitor that’s sitting on your desk. Well, Samsung has teased a tablet at its IFA 2015 press conference, and while the device wasn’t detailed at all besides getting the name the Samsung Galaxy View, we’ve got a pretty good feeling that this will turn out to be the 18.4-inch tablet we’ve been hearing about.
One of the few things we can make out in the images we’ve seen is that the Galaxy View has a kickstand – this isn’t something that is terribly necessary for the average 8-10-inch tablet, but for a 18.4-inch one, it will be pretty much mandatory. The other details we have heard about the device are that it has a 1920×1080 resolution and has hardware specs that include an Exynos 7580 processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, microSD slot and 5,700mAh. Nothing too impressive, but we suspect this is a device more for the home and classroom than for anything too performance intensive.
What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy View? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Phone Arena
The post Samsung’s rumoured 18.4-inch tablet is likely the Samsung Galaxy View appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime now receiving Lollipop update
Samsung has finally started pushing out the long-awaited Android 5.1.1 update to all unlocked models of the Galaxy Grand Prime located in the Unites States. In terms of added functionality, this upgrade brings the the latest build of the open-source operating system, as well as a multitude of bug fixes and stability improvements to the handset.
Hit the break for the full changelog.
- Material Design: You will quickly notice a whole new colorful look and feel to your device – from fluid animations to new application and system themes, colors and widgets.
- Notifications UI & Priorities: In order to alert you to the mosttimely and relevant information, the format and behavior of notifications have evolved:
- notifications will appear on the lock screen and are intelligently ranked by type and who sent them.
- you double-tap to open one, swipe left or right to clear one, or clear all notifications from the bottom of the list.
- you can set the priority and privacy of notifications for each application.
- very high priority notifications will pop up briefly over other applications so that you can take action.
- when you dismiss a notification on one device it will be dismissed on your other Android devices, if they are connected to the Internet.
- you can further tailor how notifications behave with the new Downtime and Ambient Display settings (see below).
- New Interruptions & Downtime Settings: You can tailor how interruptions behave, choosing to allow all, none, or only priority interruptions. You can personalize what counts as a priority interruption (reminders, events, calls, messages) and even tailor them to be from only contacts you specify. The Downtime setting will allow only priority interruptions during the times and days that you specify. e.g. allow only priority interruptions on the weekend.
- Recent Apps (Multi-tasking): The redesigned Overview space (formerly called Recents) will include both applications and separate activities within those applications. For instance, each open tab in Chrome will also appear here along with recent applications; both your Gmail Inbox and a draft email message will appear as separate cards. This provides a consistent way to switch amongst tasks.
- Flashlight: Lollipop includes a new flashlight option as part of Quick settings (swipe down with two fingers from the status bar to see it).
- Pin a view/app: Screen pinning allows you to keep a specific app or screen in view. For example, you can ‘pin’ a game and your child will not be able to navigate anywhere else on your phone.
- Battery: The Battery settings panel now shows an estimated projection for how much time you have left while discharging or charging. You can also enable a new battery saver mode that will save power by reducing performance and most background data operations to extend your battery life.
- Smarter Internet Connections: With Android Lollipop, your phone will not connect to a Wi-Fi access point unless there is a verified Internet connection. This feature improves hand-offs between Wi-Fi and cellular connections, helping to maintain your video chat or voice-over-IP (VoIP) call as you switch.
- Performance: Your phone now uses the new Android Runtime to help optimize application performance. After upgrading to Lollipop, your applications will undergo a one-time optimization process. Note that the optimization for ART requires more space.
- Security: Encryption can now use a stronger 256-bit key to help protect your data. Note that the stronger key willonly be used after you perform a factory reset on Android Lollipop. Otherwise encryption will continue to use 128-bit key. You can turn on encryption in the Security settings menu.
If you don’t feel like waiting for a notification confirming that the update is ready for your device, you could always search for the upgrade manually. To do so simply follow the four steps below:
- Open the Settings app
- Scroll to the bottom and tap on “About Device”
- Hit “System Updates”
- Tap on “Check for update”
Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime now receiving Lollipop update
Samsung and Barnes & Noble continue the Nook line with the Galaxy Tab S2 Nook
Remember Barnes & Noble’s Nook tablets? They didn’t fare so well against cheaper Android tablets and Amazon’s Kindle lineup, but the bookstore attempted to keep the family going with a co-branded Galaxy Tab 4 from Samsung. It didn’t do too well either, partly due to performance issues and partly because most people aren’t buying dedicated e-readers when their normal tablets can handle that job without any problems.
That’s not going to stop Barnes & Noble (or Samsung) from trying again. This time around, they’re working with a high-end Galaxy Tab S2 instead of a budget-friendly device, so performance issues should hopefully not be a problem with this tablet. The tablet will simply be called the Galaxy Tab S2 Nook and retails for the same price as the normal Galaxy Tab S2, but it’s preloaded with Nook software so you’ll have quick access to Barnes & Noble’s selection of content.
The Play Store is still present on this device, so it’s really just a Tab S2 with some incredibly small adjustments. Hard to say whether or not this will sell well next to the normal version, but if you’re planning on buying a powerful tablet for the sole purpose of reading books you bought from Barnes & Noble, it might be worth looking into.
source: Barnes & Noble
Come comment on this article: Samsung and Barnes & Noble continue the Nook line with the Galaxy Tab S2 Nook
Samsung releases the phone compatibility list for the Gear S2
One major difference between the Gear S2 and previous Samsung smartwatches is the fact that it is compatible with more than just Samsung phones. Not all phones will work, but Samsung says any phone that runs Android 4.4 or higher and has more than 1.5GB of RAM should work.
Hidden away on the Samsung Gear S2 webpage is the entire S2 compatibility list.
Asus
- Zenfone2 – EU
HTC
- One – EU
- One (M8) – US
- One (M9) – EU, US
- 826W – CN
Huawei
- honor 4X – CN
- honor 6 – EU
- P8 – EU, CN
- Ascend Mate 7 – EU, CN
Kyocera
- Duraforce – US
Lenovo
- Vide Shot – CN
- x2 Pro – CN
LG
- G Flex – US
- Optimus G – KR
- Optimus G2 – EU, US
- Optimus G3 – EU, US, KR
- G4 – EU, US, KR
- G Vista – US
- Nexus 5 – EU, KR, CN
Motorola
- DROID Turbo – US
- DROID MAXX – EU
- DROID MINI – EU
- Moto X – EU, KR
- Nexus 6 – US, CN
Nubia
- Nubia Z9 – CN
OPPO
- R7 – CN
Pantech
- IM-A910S – KR
Sharp
- Aquos – EU
Sony
- XPERIA Z2 – EU
- XPERIA Z3 – EU
Vivo
- X5 Pro – CN
Xiaomi
- Mi3 – EU
- Mi4 – EU, KR, CN
- Note Pro – CN
ZTE
- V5 – CN
Source: Samsung
Come comment on this article: Samsung releases the phone compatibility list for the Gear S2
Samsung Galaxy View tablet teased, is this the company’s rumored 18.4-inch tablet?
Last month when Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, they also teased a third product, the Gear S2. Fast-forwarding to today, the Gear S2 was finally fully unveiled. Interestingly enough, during the Gear S2’s press event Samsung teased yet another new product, this time a tablet. Going by the name Galaxy View, the teaser didn’t reveal a whole lot but Samsung did mention hints like “think bigger” and “a new dimension of entertainment”. Putting one and two together, the View is more than likely the rumored 18.4-inch tablet that we reported on last month.
If the specs revealed in an earlier report prove correct, the giant tablet won’t exactly be the highest-end affair, as the SM-T670, believed to be the Galaxy View, is packing a 1920 x 1080 display, which is rather low-res considering the display’s size. Other specs include an Exynos 7580 processor with 2GB RAM, 32GB of on-board storage with microSD for expansion, a 2.1MP front cam, an 8MP rear cam, and a 5700mAh battery. Dimensions are said to be 451.8mm wide, 275.8mm tall, and 11.9mm thick.
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So who would buy this thing? That’s a fair question. Reportedly Samsung envisions the product as more of a family “living room” type tablet than anything else. Potentially such a giant monster could be useful in classroom settings as well, with the teacher using it to demonstrate things and it being big enough for the entire class to see.
For now, we really can’t say for sure if the Galaxy View’s specs or size will match that of the rumored SM-T670 but it seems to fit. We admit that the inclusion of a 1080p resolution at this size sounds like an odd choice, but more than likely Samsung was hoping to keep the costs down and the potential profits up.
What do you think, can you think of any scenario where such a device would come in handy?
Samsung teases Galaxy View device for October
Along with the unveiling of the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch at IFA 2015 in Berlin today, Samsung revealed something else called the Galaxy View, despite not really explaining what it is.
The Galaxy View, from the pictures Samsung teased out, looks to be a brand new big tablet that appears to have a kickstand and aimed at watching movies and TV shows.
It’s supposed to be released in October and could really either by a device completely on its own, or an accessory that attaches to a device as a second screen. A second display would make sense to offer an external display accessory to Samsung products, and would certainly justify the name ‘View’.
I guess we’ll find out in October.
The post Samsung teases Galaxy View device for October appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Samsung’s new Gear S2 coming in October, will play nice with other Android devices
Earlier today we got the chance to go hands-on with Samsung’s latest wearable, the Gear S2. Aside from packing a unique rotating bezel and a new Tizen-powered software interface, there are a few more notable pieces of information that we think you should know.
The Gear S2 will be compatible with non-Samsung devices
For starters, and perhaps the biggest news with this watch, is that the Samsung Gear S2 will be compatible with other Android devices. Samsung’s previous Gear S watch was only compatible with other smartphones made by the company, so it’s great to see Samsung opening up its ecosystem a little bit.
With this news comes a few caveats, though. First and foremost, even though Samsung Pay is coming to the Gear S2 in November, you won’t be able to use the new payment service if you don’t own a Samsung smartphone. Additionally, your non-Samsung device will have to be running Android 4.4 KitKat or higher, which shouldn’t be a problem for most users out there. Samsung also tells us that with other Android phones, there may be a slight hiccup in software and apps here and there. Specifically, the tech company says the dialer app might run into some problems due to API differences.
Speaking of APIs, Samsung has just made the official Gear S2 SDK available for devs over at the company’s developer website. Samsung says the Gear S2 will have more than 1,000 compatible applications available when the device launches next month. If you’d like to download the SDK tools for this new watch, head to this website for more information.
The Gear S2 will be available for purchase in early October from Samsung’s website and other retailers. T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and U.S. Cellular have all announced plans to carry the new watch, though no specific availability or pricing details have been released yet. We’ll be sure to update you as we learn more about the Gear S2’s availability.
Samsung’s Gear S2 will work with non-Samsung made devices
Folks who thought the Gear S2 would be exclusively available to Samsung phones will be happy to hear that the smartwatch will work with non-Samsung devices as well.
Samsung has worked hard at closing off its ecosystem, making sure much of the Korean tech giants cool gadgetry and features are exclusive to Samsung-made devices. However, it seems Samsung is letting that exclusivity slide with the Gear S2, which is what the company needed to do to make it truly a hit smartwatch.
The Gear S2 will be be compatible with any Android device running version 4.4 or higher. One more caveat: said device will need to be sport 1.5GB of RAM or higher.
Due to differing APIs, it’s not likely Samsung will follow Google’s lead and offer the smartwatch to iOS users.
Samsung’s Gear S2 is still a month out from officially launching, so details are still scarce. However, it’s expected that Samsung will release a Gear S2 app, providing the same sort of connectivity the Android Wear app offers.
via: Android Central
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Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 and tab S2 Nook now available in the US
Back in mid-July, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab S2, a higher-tier tablet that went on sale in the Asian market almost immediately thereafter. As expected, the tablet has now finally arrived in the US market as well.
The Tab S2 is offered in 8.0 and 9.7-inch configurations, both packing 4:3 ratios and the same octa-core Exynos 5433 processor with 3GB RAM, and other specs include either an 8 or 9.7-inch 2048×1536 SAMOLED display, 32 or 64GB storage, microSD, an 8MP rear, 2.1MP front, and a fingerprint scanner. The 8-inch version packs a 4000 mAh battery, while the larger model has a 5870 mAh battery. Both run on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with TouchWiz on top.
Read also: Tab S2 first impressions
As you can tell by the specs, this tablet isn’t quite as flagship or premium as you’d find on a high-end Samsung smartphone, though the specs are still fairly reasonable. That said, pricing might be a little too high for some, with the WiFi only version of the tablet costing around $399 for the 8-inch model and $499 for the 9.7-inch. The LTE versions are about $100 more.
For those interested in picking up the tablet, you’ll find the LTE model through T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint. You can pick up the WiFi only 8.0 and 9.7 via Amazon. For those that are fans of the Nook series, the 8-inch version of the tablet is also now available as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Nook. Pricing and features are the same as the standard Tab S2 8.0, though the Nook edition includes three free ebook from Nook, three free electronic magazines, a $5 starter credit to the Nook store, and a few other Nook-focused goodies.
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