Samsung’s interest in virtual reality grows with new investment
Apparently, Samsung is not bound to any exclusive partnership with Oculus because the company just invested in yet another virtual reality headset developer. Samsung Ventures spent an undisclosed amount of money to invest in Fove, a small company working on its own virtual reality headset that has become a hit on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter campaign, which closes in eight days, has raised more than $450,000 with over 1,000 backers. Fove claims that it offers eye movement control with virtual reality at an affordable price.
Via: Engadget
Come comment on this article: Samsung’s interest in virtual reality grows with new investment
Samsung denies rumours of Galaxy S7 launching this year
Ever since the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S6 for 2015, many leaks have come to light in the past few months concerning new devices to be added to Samsung’s ever growing arsenal of smartphones and tablets. But one interesting leak that stood out was the launch rumor of the Samsung Galaxy S7 in 2015.
Recent reports suggested that Samsung planned to launch a second flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S7 in the second half of 2015, in an attempt to challenge the Apple iPhone 6s directly since the Galaxy S line is usually released in the spring and the iPhone is released in the fall . The rumor was found doing rounds in the South Korean media, but a new source has come up stating it is false.
According to Mobileburn’s source who is within the marketing team of Samsung:
The company remains committed to launching products in pre-determined launch windows, which includes the S series.
Currently, Samsung releases their flagship Galaxy S device in the first quarter of the year. With the Galaxy S6 only 4 months old, it seemed highly unlikely that Samsung will release another flagship so soon. But the domination that iPhone holds may force Samsung to reconsider this option.
The second half of the year has always been dominated by the iPhone since its launch in the market, and Samsung isn’t the company to risk losing sales over trying to dominate the iPhone by launching the Galaxy S7 in the second half of 2015. The development fees of creating two generations of phones in one year would be tremendous, and if Samsung did release another generation of the S line, it would cannibalize the version released in the first half of the year.
Samsung is probably hoping that the Galaxy Note 5 is going to stand out in its own against the new iPhone. The source has also added that Samsung will not let the iPhone rule the market hinting at maybe an updated version of the Galaxy S6.
The post Samsung denies rumours of Galaxy S7 launching this year appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Samsung shows off Galaxy S6’s wireless charging feature in new ad
In yet another Galaxy S6 ad, Samsung is demonstrating the device’s wireless charging abilities, showing consumers how much more efficient and easier the technology is over the standard charging cable.
In the thirty-second clip, Samsung points out just how frustrating cable management can be. But while wireless charging is a nice luxury to have, you still have to mess with cables. After all, where is the wireless charging pad going to gets its power?
Click here to view the embedded video.
When the wireless charging pad is set up, it’s certainly an efficient and hassle-free technology to use. And if Samsung really wanted to push this technology, they’d probably include a charging pad in the box, whereas for the time being, they don’t. In all honesty, the ad pokes more fun at Apple than really trying to sell you on wireless charging.
But, in case you didn’t know, Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge both support PMA and Qi wireless charging, making the two devices capable with a variety of third-party wireless charging solutions.
What do you think of wireless charging? Is it a technology you use or do you find it to be just as much hassle as cable management?
Come comment on this article: Samsung shows off Galaxy S6’s wireless charging feature in new ad
Hands-on: Galaxy S6 Edge gets stock Android-like theme
One of the best things about the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge is the new Theme store, which finally brings a long-awaited easy way to change the look and feel of your handset without needing to use a custom ROM or launcher. The Theme store launched with just a handful of themes, including the exclusive Avengers’ themes but a couple of months later, we’re starting to see great third-party themes introduced.
Recently, Samsung accepted many theme producers from XDA Developers for its Theme store which has led to several excellent themes introduced into the store in the past week. Samsung has already rejected two Material Design inspired themes due to licensing issues but finally a new Material Design theme – called Material and published by developer Samer Zayer – is available to download.
I installed it on my Galaxy S6 Edge and here’s my hands-on look and impressions of the theme.
The theme is heavily inspired by Google’s Material Design and the developer has done an exceptional job in replicating the look and feel of Google’s interface. From custom icons to the striped Material wallpaper, the theme is perfect for those who enjoy stock Android but want the additional options added to Android in TouchWiz.
An interesting thing that I’ve found is that the drop down notification menu is pure black, which can be quite jarring at first but becomes very familiar after a few minutes of use. The shortcuts menu is black with white icons and provides a nice contrast to the white notification and black text used with notifications. When in an application, the status bar and notification dock take up the same colour for consistency and overall, the theme is polished and very well made.
#gallery-1
margin: auto;
#gallery-1 .gallery-item
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 20%;
#gallery-1 img
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
#gallery-1 .gallery-caption
margin-left: 0;
/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
One problem with themes is that they often slow your handset down with large graphics and bad code, but the Material theme is far from this; in fact, it feels somewhat faster than TouchWiz as standard. Material Design was meant to bring a standardised design to Android and the Material theme accomplishes this with great effect. As someone who’s not a massive fan of stock Android (but strangely I like Material Design), this theme is perfect as it provides a clean alternative to Samsung’s own interface.
Samsung invests in another crowdfunded VR company
Just because Samsung is extra-cozy with Oculus doesn’t mean that it’s putting all its virtual reality eggs in one basket. Samsung Ventures has invested an unspecified amount of cash into Fove, the company whose crowdfunded VR headset adjusts focus based on your gaze. There’s no word of an official collaboration between the two companies, but it’s not hard to see why a tech giant would pour money into this startup. Samsung is really eager to see VR take off, and Fove’s work both creates healthier competition provides the Korean firm with a technically advanced alternative to the established options.
Filed under: Displays, Wearables, Samsung
Source: Fove
How to achieve stock Android on any smartphone or tablet [2015]
There are all sorts of user interfaces out there — TouchWiz, ZenUI, Sense, and Optimus UI are just some of them. These different UI’s tend to come packaged with all sorts of bloatware such as theme stores, digital assistants, and popop tips. In addition to that, there’s usually a bevy of carrier apps packaged into your phone, as well. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a way to get rid of all of that junk aside from disabling them, but there is at least a way we can make any smartphone take on the look of pure Android.
We’ll do this without achieving root or flashing your device, making this process fool-proof. Let’s get started!
Launchers
In a recent guide, we explained what launchers are and what they do, so we’ll be getting straight to the point in this guide. For achieving stock Android, you have two popular and quality options: Nova Launcher or Action Launcher 3. Either one of these will replace your home screen UI with stock Android.
In this case, I am using Nova Launcher, but Action Launcher 3 will work just as well, if that’s your preference. Head on over to the Play Store and download Nova Launcher for free. Once it’s finished, tap on the app icon in your app drawer. You should now have the stock Android UI on your home screen. Congratulations!
There’s one more step we need to take in order to make this a bit more of a permanent solution now. Tap the home button and a prompt should appear asking if you want your launcher to be the default solution that came with the device or our newly installed launcher, Nova. Select Nova Launcher, and then OK. Now, the only time you should see your old home screen again is when you reboot the device, but it should quickly revert back to your default settings.
The Lock Screen
Unfortunately, Nova Launcher doesn’t come with a built-in lockscreen, so you’re going to need to grab one from the Google Play Store yourself. I found that the Lollipop Lock Screen 5.0 app and the Material Design Lock Screen both worked excellent. You can download one of these, tap one of the apps when it’s finished, and simply enable it.
Now, you should officially have your stock Android-themed UI!
Further Customization
You may not want to keep the entire look of stock Android, though. One of the benefits of launchers is that they have tons of customization options, especially when it comes to Action Launcher 3 or Nova Launcher. I’d encourage you to go through the settings of whichever launcher you chose, play around with it, and choose the customizations that work for you. There’s a lot of stuff you can do to make the device unique for you, especially when you start getting into the Pro versions.
And hey, if you want to take customization even further, you can actually replace all of the icons on your device without achieving root or flashing a ROM.
All in all, there are some excellent solutions to keep your device’s software looking fresh without getting into a lot of technical details!
Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to use launchers to achieve different looks for your device’s software. Stock Android’s look is just one of our favorites. You can do a lot with launchers, and everyone customizes their own in a different way.
That said, what’s your favorite way to customize your home screen? Do you like stock Android or do you have another custom look you’re rocking? Let us know in the comments!
Come comment on this article: How to achieve stock Android on any smartphone or tablet [2015]
Latest Galaxy S6 ad wants you to “change the way you charge”
Samsung’s marketing department is back with another doozy of an ad. This time they are trying to convince us that the Galaxy S6 and its wireless charging solution are much more convenient than fumbling around with various cables and connector types (Samsung is looking at you Apple.)
Samsung is keen to point out the frustrations of cable management and I’m sure we’ve all been there at some point. There’s also the traditional bit of fun poking at Apple’s iPhone 6 around the 14 second mark. Of course, the luxury of wireless charging will set you back the extra cost of a charging pad, as Samsung doesn’t include one in the box with the S6.
In case you missed it, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge both support two inductive wireless charging standards – PMA and Qi. This means that the handset is compatible with a range of third party products, as well as charging hotspots that are pre-built into furniture and found in some coffee shops.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge were the first smartphones to support dual-mode wireless charging.
All of that said, Samsung is not the only manufacturer to include wireless charging capabilities with their handsets. Many last and current gen phones support the feature, and you can purchase third party cases for many devices that will make charging that little bit more convenient.
However, the future of wireless charging could be a little different to Samsung’s latest presentation. PMA and the A4WP are to finalize their merger in July, and resonance based wireless charging should finally begin showing up in products in 2016. While current technology isn’t going to be made obsolete, there should be some extra competition in this space next year.
Has Samsung sold you on wireless charging?
Samsung doesn’t want Windows Update running on your computer
As if you needed another reason to do a clean install of WIndows with any new computer, Samsung’s got you covered. It turns out that a piece of the bloatware from the OEM is apparently disabling Windows Update because it interferes with Samsung’s own software updater. The one that, as you might infer, keeps its bloatware up to date on Windows desktops and laptops. A Microsoft MVP (community member, not Redmond employee) chatted with a Samsung customer service rep, asking why this was happening and the rep replied that Windows Update will install drivers for all the hardware on a machine that may or may not work. So, it prevents such a thing by keeping Windows Update turned off. Fine if you aren’t worried about security updates but love keeping things like Samsung’s auto-back-up tools up to date. It’s almost like Samsung wasn’t paying attention to Lenovo and Superfish earlier this year.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Samsung
Via: Gizmodo
Source: BSOD Analysis
5.7-inch Galaxy A8 could be thinnest Samsung to date
Making it’s way through the FCC, the Samsung Galaxy A8 is coming closer to becoming a reality, although the actual filing itself doesn’t expand on what is already known about the device.
The Galaxy A8 should feature a 5.7-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16-Megapixel camera, 16GB of storage, and a 3050 mAh battery.
Of most significance, however, is that at only 5.9mm thin, the Galaxy A8 is set to be the thinnest Samsung device to date. The device will also feature a touch fingerprint sensor and run Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.
With the device already hitting the FCC, it shouldn’t be long before we see the Galaxy A8 officially unveiled by Samsung.
The post 5.7-inch Galaxy A8 could be thinnest Samsung to date appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 will come with a USB Type-C connector
Having already heard that the OnePlus Two will come with the new USB Type-C connector, the next device to feature the new port technology is the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 5.
We already know Samsung tend to like to experiment with the ports they put on their devices, and we’ve already heard before that the Note 5 may feature the USB Type-C.
USB Type-C is to become the next ‘standard’ for device connectivity and will see the MicroUSB become obsolete in devices. The benefits include, but are not limited to, reversible connection, faster transfer rate, and a unified port that handles multiple data streams. It’s clear why manufacturers are looking to move to this new standard.
The news comes from an unverified source who seems pretty confident that the Note 5 will have the USB Type-C connector, and adds to the increasing list of evidence that adds truth to this rumour.
Source Confirmed : Galaxy Note 5 Coming With USB Type-C
— Moroleaks (@Moroleaks) June 24, 2015
As with any rumour, however, this should be taken with a pinch of salt, but as the sources keep on coming in, the likelihood of this happening becomes ever greater.
The post Samsung Galaxy Note 5 will come with a USB Type-C connector appeared first on AndroidGuys.
AIVAnet 