Samsung publishes the Galaxy S6 Experience app to the Play Store
You would have to have been living on the moon if you weren’t already aware of the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones, and even then, there’s a chance you might have seen something. In case you are unsure what the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge handsets are all about, Samsung has published the Galaxy S6 Experience app to the Google Play Store for you to browse through.
As you can see from the images above, the Galaxy S6 Experience app runs through the various software and hardware features of the handsets, from the metal and glass design to the accessories you can buy to complement it. If you were wondering about the S6 or S6 Edge but haven’t managed to get to a retailer to handle one in the flesh, the app gives you a great idea of what the S6 and S6 Edge have to offer. You can download the app to your device by scanning the QR code or clicking the Google Play link below.
Source: Google Play Store
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Galaxy S6 gets teardown treatment, proves fairly difficult to repair
As per usual with new devices, iFixit has torn apart a brand new Galaxy S6 to see how easy it’ll be to fix it in case you break it or your non-removable battery goes bad. While it’s all theoretically possible, the process looks bad for DIY phone repairs.
The (only) good news about the S6 here is that many of its components are modular. This is great for replacing individual things instead of replacing the entire device. That’s where the good news ends, though. Everything else about the device is tough to repair, especially since the front and back of the device is cased in glass.
Without the removable back, actually getting into the device is a feat within itself. Everything is pretty firmly sealed up, including the battery, but once everything is open, taking the battery out to swap it for a new one doesn’t look like it’ll be too difficult.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but pretty much everything inside the device is identical to the Galaxy S6 Edge with just a few slight differences. The camera modules are the same and the placement of most of the components on the motherboard are strikingly similar. There aren’t many surprises inside, as we know all about the USB 2.0 ports and fingerprint scanners that Samsung built into the device.
Overall, Samsung’s latest flagship scored a paltry 4 out of 10 on the repairability scale thanks to how difficult it is to get inside the device. It doesn’t matter how easy things are to replace inside the phone if you nearly destroy the device getting inside of it. iFixit noted that replacing the glass on the phone would likely be impossible without breaking the display, further adding to the costs of repairs.
If you want to see the full teardown process, hit the link below.
source: iFixit
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[Video] Samsung USA officially unboxes the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge via a promo video
Samsung USA has taken it upon their YouTube account to officially unbox their two new flagships in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge via a pretty cool promo video. With all the coverage these two devices are getting in the recent weeks, I’m sure you are well familiar with them both. If not, check out the videos below and let us know what you think!
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
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Huawei rumored to offering Samsung designers more money and higher level positions to work for them
Is Huawei trying to steal away Samsung’s designers and technicians? If so, you certainly can’t blame them for the effort as Samsung is most certainly poised to have their most successful Galaxy S ever with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. The refined and refreshed look of the S6 and S6 Edge seems to have caught Huawei’s attention as reports are coming that the company is not only offering more money, but higher level positions are also being dangled to Samsung’s design engineers. More independence is also rumored to be promised to these candidates which is essentially an engineers/designers dream. If these people were to take Huawei’s offer, you certainly can’t blame them.
Do you guys think Samsung’s own engineers can steer Huawei into a serious contender in the mobile phone industry?
source: Korea Times
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Try out Samsung’s newest software features with the Galaxy S6 Experience app
Samsung has just released it’s new Galaxy S6 Experience app in the Google Play Store, which lets users demo the handset’s best software features without the need to have the phone. The app, which is free to download, will give users a good look at GS6’s new camera sensor, revamped S Health application, design changes and Samsung’s new theming engine.
The app even shows off a few official Samsung accessories that you can purchase if you decide to buy the phone. And if you can’t decide on which accessories are right for you, the Experience app will quiz you to help you decide which ones best fit your lifestyle.
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We’re sure you’ve heard in our full review that the software on the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge has been revamped to provide a smoother, more simplistic experience to it’s users. The Galaxy S6 Experience app won’t install Touchwiz on your phone, but it will give you a good look at the company’s new design language with Android 5.0 Lollipop.
More on the Galaxy S6 experience
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If you’re on the fence about whether to buy one of Samsung’s newest flagships, this app may help you reach a decision. If you’re interested in checking it out, head to the Play Store link below.
With great power comes great cost for Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge brings a lot of new innovation to the smartphone market and a new breakdown of the cost to produce the phone by research firm IHS reveals that innovation comes at relatively high cost. IHS recently took a look at the 64GB Verizon variant of the Galaxy S6 edge and estimated the cost for parts and assembly was about $290. That puts the Galaxy S6 edge about $34 per unit more than last year’s Galaxy S 5 and much higher than Apple’s iPhone 6 which is estimated to cost $247 to produce. The Galaxy S6 edge is currently retailing for $699 off contract. “This phone costs less than an iPhone to buy, but it costs Samsung more to build,” says IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler.
Almost a third of the cost of the Galaxy S6 edge comes from the curved touchscreen display. IHS estimates the display and touchscreen elements cost $85. The next most expensive part is the Exynos 7 processor with a price tag of $29.50. Part of that high cost is likely due to the fact that the Exynos 7 is Samsung’s first chip that uses 14-nanometer technology in its production. The use of the new Exynos 7 cpu pushed Samsung to also produce new high-end DDR4 memory at a cost of $27 to pack in 3GB worth. The DDR4 memory is another first for a smartphone on the market.
Although the Galaxy S6 edge is expensive for Samsung to produce, their investment in new technologies and getting them to market first should help position them for future success. The fact that Samsung is selling the device at such a low price point relative to its cost to produce is also a sign of how serious Samsung is about regaining their market share momentum after the 2014 dip.
source: Re/code
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Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge is ridiculously expensive to make
It’s no secret that Samsung’s curvy Galaxy S6 Edge costs a pretty penny, but there’s now a good explanation as to why. IHS estimates that the raw price of assembly for a 64GB Verizon model is $290. That’s more expensive to make than not just the Galaxy S5 ($256 when new), but also the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus ($263) — if true, Samsung is giving up a lot of profit to make this exotic hardware affordable. The bendy AMOLED screen is unsurprisingly the costliest element here with an estimated $85 price, although the Exynos 7 processor ($30), 3GB of DDR4 memory ($27) and flash storage ($25) certainly aren’t cheap.
It’s hard to know just how accurate this manufacturing bill is. Samsung makes its own parts, after all, and it could have scored a deal to get components at a lower rate. And as always, the cost of assembly doesn’t tell you the full story. That $290 doesn’t include patent licensing, development or other expenses needed to put the S6 Edge in your pocket. Even so, it’s apparent that Samsung is still willing to sacrifice its bottom line to one-up the competition.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Source: Recode
Samsung starts pushing out Lollipop update for Note 4’s situated in Thailand and the Philippines
Samsung is currently pushing out the much-anticipated, eagerly-awaited Lollipop update to all unlocked models of the Note 4 located in Thailand and the Philippines. This upgrade transports the latest build of the Android operating system to the handset, together with a handful of bug fixes, stability improvements and speed optimizations.
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 most timely 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.
To start the update, make sure you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. Then, from the home screen, press the Menu key, followed by Settings. Scroll to the bottom and tap ‘About Device’, followed by ‘Software Update and ‘Update Now’.
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New Samsung ad showcases Galaxy S6 built-in wireless charging
The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have arrived, and sales already seem to be quite positive. Of course, Samsung isn’t holding still, doing its best to advertise the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, and new Samsung features as best as possible. In a new ad from Samsung, British singer/songwriter Rita Ora stars, highlighting the wireless charging functionality built into the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. This isn’t the first Samsung ad to feature the singer, and likely won’t be the last.
Beyond baking in out-of-the-box wireless support for the GS6 and S6 Edge, Samsung also is the first company to offer a phone with support for both PMA and WPC wireless standards, meaning just about any wireless charger will work with Samsung’s latest Galaxy offerings. For those curious, Samsung’s official wireless charger utilizes WPC’s Qi standard, but it’s important to note that existing wireless chargers of the PMA and WPC Qi standard should all play wonderfully with the Galaxy S6and S6 Edge.
Considering the Galaxy S6 wireless charger is listed at $70, you might want to consider other options like the Anker Ultra-Slim Wireless Charging Pad ($25.99) or even the Samsung-made “Samsung Mini” wireless charging pad ($32.53) — to name just two of the many alternatives out there.
How much does it actually cost to build the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge?
Over the weekend, my colleague Nirave Gondhia wrote a feature exploring whether or not the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge were overpriced, considering the increased price tags over their predecessors and how the handsets compare to other devices including Apple’s iPhone family. Curious as to how much the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge really cost, as far as bill of materials is concerned? A new report from IHS helps shed some light on the matter.
Although the full report isn’t available just yet, Re/Code has highlighted some of the information from it, focusing specifically on the 64GB Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. As it turns out, the cost to build the Galaxy S6 Edge 64GB model for use on the Verizon network comes to about $290, including parts and assembly. That’s about $34 higher than the 64GB Galaxy S5 cost.
Breaking things down a bit further, the most expensive component on the Galaxy S6 Edge is the curved display, which comes to roughly $85. Next up, is the Exynos 7 processor, at a cost of about $29.50. Continuing on, some of the other higher-cost items are the DDR4 memory at $27, and the Qualcomm baseband chip at $15.
Samsung pricing compared to Apple
To put things into perspective, let’s look at the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The 64GB models of each of these devices are priced at $247 and $263 respectively, with retail pricing (from Big Red) set at $649.99 and $749.99. That’s a markup of roughly $403 for the 64GB iPhone 6 and $487 for the iPhone 6 Plus. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S6 Edge 64GB model is set at $699.99 through Verizon, a markup of nearly $410. As you can see, the markup for both Apple and Samsung products are actually rather similar.
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As you can see, the markup for both Apple and Samsung products are actually rather similar. Before you start screaming “We are being ripped off”, let’s not forget that there’s much more involved than a simple breakdown of parts and assembly cost. There’s also packaging, advertising, research and development, and tons of other aspects that Samsung and Apple recoup by keeping that price tag as high as possible.
Could Samsung and Apple price more aggressively? Absolutely. But considering their reputation, they really have no real need to, as they have a highly established reputation and no shortage of consumers lining up to pick up what they have to offer.
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