Verizon to open pre-orders for Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge on April 1st
When Samsung officially unveiled their new flagship devices, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, at MWC 2015 earlier this week they indicated the device would not start shipping until April 10th. The major U.S. carriers along with others around the globe quickly released statements letting their customers know they would make the device available. Absent though was Verizon, although most people assumed they would be in on the action as well. That was confirmed today when Verizon announced via Twitter that they will start accepting pre-orders for the devices on April 1st.
Just because Verizon plans to start taking pre-orders on April 1st does not necessarily mean they will be ready to deliver them to customers on April 10th with the rest of the world. However, it is difficult to imagine Verizon would miss the bandwagon, especially after Samsung noted that pre-orders are “pouring in” as the company seems to have a hit on their hands after the disappointing performance of last year’s Galaxy S 5.
Pricing and configuration information has still not been released by Verizon.
Any Verizon customers out there planning to get a pre-order in for one for these devices?
source: @VZWnews
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Select Samsung Galaxy S6 apps and wallpapers surface online
We are weeks away from the launch of the Galaxy S6 in markets around the world, but that doesn’t mean some aspects of the device will go untouched for the same amount of time. Some of the apps and wallpapers to be featured on the Samsung flagship have been posted online. The apps include S Translator and S Note while the wallpapers are vibrant and crisp, optimized for the 2560×1440 display.
Hit the break for download links to the apps and wallpapers.
Apps:
Wallpapers:
Source: XDA Forums
Via: Android Authority
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Reports coming in that the Samsung Galaxy S6 may have a problem with touch sensitivity
No device is without issues and it appears Samsung‘s new flagships aren’t going to be the exception to the rule either. Asia Today is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S6 may have a problem with touch sensitivity and that the millions of devices already built and waiting to be sold could already have this issue. The […]
The post Reports coming in that the Samsung Galaxy S6 may have a problem with touch sensitivity appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Grab the Samsung Galaxy S6 wallpapers and apps
We don’t have to wait for the Samsung Galaxy S6 to launch since the wallpapers and apps that will be bundled with the flagship device have just surfaced online.
Courtesy of XDA Developers, you can now grab the app APK’s and sideload them, as well as enjoy the official Galaxy S6 2560 x 1440 wallpapers.
Apps:
Source: XDA Forums
The post Grab the Samsung Galaxy S6 wallpapers and apps appeared first on AndroidGuys.
The brains behind Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” campaign leaves company
A large part of Samsung’s success can be accredited to its vastly popular marketing campaign. One of the brains behind the company’s popular “Next Big Thing” campaign, Todd Pendleton has now decided to leave the company. Pendleton currently serves as the head of marketing for Samsung Mobile USA.
A month ago, we saw the Galaxy S6 marketing campaign chief leave the company, so it certainly hasn’t been a fruitful 30 days for the Korean manufacturer’s marketing division. It is being said that Pendleton is leaving the company on his own accord, perhaps to pursue other ventures. Neither company has issued a statement on the matter.
We’re not sure how this will affect Samsung at the moment, but it’s certainly a blow for the company. Luckily, the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge have received widespread acclaim so far, which should make the lives of the marketing team a whole lot easier.
Via: CNET
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OtterBox announces its cases for the Galaxy S6
OtterBox, the extremely popular durable case manufacturer, has today announced its plans to offer a selection of different case designs for Samsung’s flagship smartphone of 2015, the Galaxy S6. These cases have all been approved by the Samsung Mobile Accessory Partnership Program, meaning that they’ve been “designed specifically for Samsung mobile devices and have been certified to meet Samsung performance standards.”
Here’s what OtterBox had to say about the cases it’s set to manufacture for the Galaxy S6:
Defender Series provides tough protection and is the best-selling case in the OtterBox lineup. The rugged GALAXY S6 case is composed of three layers, including a built-in screen protector, polycarbonate mid-layer and synthetic rubber slipcover. Defender Series for GALAXY S6 will be available in a variety of color and design options, including Realtree camo.
Commuter Series provides premium protection in a sleek design that slides easily in and out of pockets. With one layer of synthetic rubber and one layer of polycarbonate, the slim GALAXY S6 case will come in a variety of “Build Your Own” color combinations to match any style.
Symmetry Series provides seamless protection and style with a dual-material construction and a beveled edge to keep the screen safe. Wraparound graphics and vibrant color options add a flash of personality to the GALAXY S6.
Alpha Glass keeps the vibrant GALAXY S6 screen safe from scratches and cracks, with a thin layer of fortified glass that maintains the truest touchscreen experience. Bubble-free and anti-shatter, Alpha Glass comes in Clear and Privacy options.
Unfortunately, the OtterBox cases aren’t available to purchase just yet, but they have been listed on the company’s website together with their prices, which start at $40 for the Symmetry Series and end at $65 for an NFL Edition Defender Series Case — which you can choose to put your favorite pro football team’s logo on it.
Source: OtterBox
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Grab Samsung’s Galaxy S6 apps and wallpapers here
Called useful by some and bloat by others, the Galaxy S6 comes with the latest version of Samsung’s custom Android applications, which have been re-designed and spruced up with some new features for the latest Lollipop version of Touchwiz. XDA forum member Albe95 has ripped these apps from a Galaxy S6 and made them available for other Samsung Lollipop handsets owners.
To install these apks you will need to be running Touchwiz on an Android 5.0 Lollipop device. If you have recently received one of Samsung’s numerous OTA updates or have manually flashed some stock 5.0 Samsung firmware, you’re pretty much set and ready to go. You’ll just need to enable external apk installation in the developer options menu, unzip the files and install. Here are the links:
The Galaxy S6’s wallpapers are also up for grabs, which you can download from the images below (click to enlarge).
For additional screenshots and installation instructions for each of the apps, check out the source link below.
Could the Samsung Galaxy S6 have a major hardware fault before it’s even launched?
Samsung have chosen to completely refine their design and move away from the previously criticised ‘cheap’ looking handsets to a more premium build.
However, the move to a completely new frame and bezel setup may have resulted in the Galaxy S6 developing a quote significant hardware flaw before it’s even been launched.
According to some research and testing captured on a YouTube video, the flaw involves the screen not registering input near the bezel and will only recognise touch from a few millimetres into the screen.
This is what it should look like:
It seems like this isn’t just something that can solved with hardware and is in fact a fundamental flaw in the hardware of the Galaxy S6.
Can Samsung fix it before launch? Is this intended? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
The post Could the Samsung Galaxy S6 have a major hardware fault before it’s even launched? appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Samsung switches to LPDDR4 and UFS 2.0 memory, but what does it mean?
Earlier this week we took a look at Samsung’s new Exynos 7420 SoC, which is just one of the new technologies squeezed into the Galaxy S6. Samsung is also leading the way with faster LPDDR4 RAM memory and internal memory designed with the new UFS 2.0 standard.
UFS 2.0 internal memory replaces the common eMMC 5.0 / 5.1 standard found in most last generation handsets. We already covered the technology last week, and essentially it is designed for faster reading and writing from internal storage, allows for simultaneous read/write processes, and prioritizes incoming commands to execute them as quickly as possible.
Although flash memory doesn’t particularly mind how data is arranged, sequential read and write speeds can be important when dealing with large file sizes. Particularly when it comes to large HD video, lossless audio or game assets, which are usually stored neatly in large sequential chunks of data on the hard drive. But rather than relying purely on Samsung’s speed numbers, a newly published AndroBench comparison gives us a closer look at what the standard is capable of compared with last generation handsets.
http://embed.chartblocks.com/1.0/?c=54f88ab2c9a61d0d5569df80&t=29ebd26dc37d131
However, benchmarks don’t necessarily represent real world performance and you’re not going to notice these speed differences in day to day tasks. But when it comes to particularly media heavy reading or writing of data, UFS 2.0 is clearly a cut above eMMC 5.0.
New LPDDR4 RAM is the other half of Samsung’s latest memory arrangement, which is a successor to commonplace LPDDR3. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 SoC also features LPDRR4 memory.
Rather than storing large, permanent files, RAM is temporary memory used by applications and the operating system for whatever needs processing. LPDDR4 can offer up to a 50 percent performance boost than LPDDR3, depending on the implementation. The aim of the game here is increased memory bandwidth, which allows for faster communication between the RAM memory and the handset’s processors.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1
This is particularly important when it comes to memory intensive applications. Again we’re looking at media centric scenarios, where large chunks of data have to be moved around with minimal delay. One example is slow-motion video, where 120 image frames have to be stored in RAM memory each second. At 2K or 4K resolutions, that’s a lot of data to be pushing around, and additional bandwidth is very important in these types of applications. Gaming is also a potential benefactor here, as mobile GPUs have to pull resources from the main memory pool. Bandwidth requirements increase greatly at larger display resolutions.
Samsung’s Galaxy S6 LPDDR4 has a 1552MHz clock speed. Assuming the standard dual-channel 32-bit design as previous Exynos chips, this gives us a bandwidth of 24.8GB/s. For comparison, the Snapdragon 810 offers a similar bandwidth, while the older LPDDR3 in the Snapdragon 801 has a bandwidth of 12.8GB/s and the Exynos 5433 offers 13.2GB/s.
However, these are just upper limits and real world results rarely sustain this bandwidth. There also is not a direct one-to-one relationship between bandwidth and performance. Our own AnTuTu test shows a decent performance gain, but not the suggested 50 percent boost. Like UFS 2.0, you’re only likely to notice this improvement in some specific scenarios.
On top of a speed boost, LPDDR4 lowers the memory’s core voltage to 1.1 volts, down from 1.2 volts, and implements low voltage swing logic at 0.4 volts. This aims to help save on energy consumption, which is especially important in battery powered smartphones, given how often the memory is accessed.
In summary, the move to LPDDR4 and UFS 2.0 are complementary improvements to system memory, which will prove particularly useful when it comes to high resolution media playback and capture, gaming, and larger file transfers and downloads. The change here is just one of the many improvements introduced in the Samsung Galaxy S6 that should (hopefully) lead to an overall superior experience when compared to Galaxy handsets of the past.
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge claims MWC award for best new device
The GSMA has announced that the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge was awarded the Best New Handset, Tablet or Device award at MWC 2015. Unlike the best of show awards announced earlier recognizing devices and apps from the prior year, this award focuses on hardware that is launched during MWC. In 2014 Samsung won the same award for the Samsung Gear Fit.
Samsung president JK Shin said the company was “honored that the GSMA agree that these are our most elegant and powerful devices so far.” Samsung thinks Galaxy S6 edge provides a great blend of design, usability and functionality, which has led to the recognition their new device is getting.
source: Samsung
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