Samsung’s super-slim Galaxy A7 prioritizes looks over power
Samsung has to deal not only with Apple’s new iPhones on the high-end side, but excellent Chinese Android models like the Xiaomi Mi4 further down the food chain. To stop the bleeding in the latter segment, it just launched the Galaxy A7, its best mid-range model and slimmest smartphone to date. As we saw earlier, the 6.3mm thick body sports a Snapdragon 64-bit octa-core CPU with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 5-megapixel front and 13-megapizel rear camera. The 5.5-inch AMOLED screen is likely 720p, though Samsung didn’t specify it.
Samsung is also emphasizing its own software features like call noise reduction, extra security and multi-screen apps. There’s no word yet on availability or price, but the Korean giant is targeting Europe and Asia with the Galaxy A7, judging by the dual-SIM option. But in the latter market, it’ll be in tough against models like the $320 Mi4, which has much better specs across the board for probably much less money.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Source: Samsung
Here’s what we expect from Samsung at MWC 2015
With CES 2015 finished up, awards given and hundreds of tech reviewers ready to crash for a few days to recover from the adventure, it is time to start thinking about what comes next in the world of Android. As far as the big events go, next up is very exciting, as we are headed into flagship season and MWC.
Samsung has been a major manufacturer of Android devices in the last few years. They have a fairly regular routine of launching one iteration after another of most styles of phone they offer. That approach has changed a little in the last half year or so, with stiff competition and the consumer desire for more premium feeling devices than Samsung’s normal plastic offerings, at a lower price than a flagship normally affords.
What should we expect from Samsung moving forward?
We applaud Samsung for reigning things in a bit. While we love the idea of having seemingly limitless options of Android devices to choose from, we’ll take quality over quantity any day. It appears that Samsung knows this, as the expectations for their next flagship device(s) may be the best that the South Korean manufacturer has yet delivered.
Materials
Starting with build materials, Samsung tested the waters late in 2014 with the Galaxy Alpha. The Alpha was touted as Samsung’s first major Android phone built of metal. While the design of the phone was not a huge departure from other Samsung devices, the metal made for a more premium feel over Samsung’s typical plastic offerings
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 was also a welcome design change, although it did not rock the same metal build, the phone itself brought a glossy and premium look to it. This lead to the notion that the Note 4 is the phone that Samsung should lead off from in future flagship devices.
Display
One of the key features to the Note 4 that helped Samsung stand out in the crowd came in the second iteration of the device, called the Note Edge. Adding a curved display to an Android phone may not be a new concept, but the Note 4 based version took it to the next level of functionality. If you are unfamiliar with the benefits of the curved edge of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, I will just leave you with this video to see what I mean.
Samsung Galaxy S6
Our expectation is that Samsung will take the ‘you can’t have too much of a good thing’ approach with the Galaxy S6. That said, it is likely that the Galaxy S6 will come in two variations as well. The flat panel S6, with metal build materials, of course, and a Galaxy S6 Edge, rocking a similarly styled curved edge to the Galaxy Note Edge.
It is Samsung’s history to announce their ‘S’ line flagship at Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona every year. MWC will be held in early March for 2015, a little bit later than the normal February dates that gave Samsung a couple months to actually launch their flagship device in April or so. We expect that Samsung will be on track for April once again, regardless their announcement date.
We’ve got a full Samsung Galaxy S6 rumor roundup all ready for your perusal, but the highlights include a 5.5-inch display, on the flat panel, 5.3-inch on the curved version. As long as Qualcomm is right that the Snapdragon 810 is still on track, it is most likely we will find the new high-end 64-bit SoC in the Galaxy S6. And an Exynos version as well, for certain primarily-Asian markets. Head on over to the Galaxy S6 rumor roundup for more details.
For good measure, check out this awesome looking fan depiction of what the Galaxy S6 could look like.
Smartwatch
But wait, there’s more! You didn’t think the next flagship Galaxy S6 was all that Samsung has in the works did you? How about a new smartwatch? Not just any smartwatch, of course, as rumor has it that Samsung is headed to MWC with a completely round watch face design. Something we’ve seen in the Motorola Moto 360 and the LG G Watch R already.
We’ve heard rumblings of a round faced Samsung smartwatch since early 2014. More recently, as suggested, those rumblings suggest a launch at MWC, and in common Samsung smartwatch fashion, we expect the new watch to run their own mobile operating system, Tizen.
Tizen
We are still debating internally the pros and cons of Samsung pushing forward with their own operating system, Tizen. There is little dispute that Samsung has built much of their success in the mobile sector thanks to the power of Android. Should they forego Android and move to their own OS?
We’re not here to debate Tizen, but we’ll tease the debate just a little. On one hand, Samsung is pushing out Tizen powered smart TVs and smartwatches all around the globe. As with any ecosystem, users of these Tizen devices may look for a Tizen phone to match. On the flip side, well, Android. Despite their best efforts, Samsung’s ecosystem can not yet compete on level with Google and Android.
As far as Tizen goes, we expect 2015 will be a big year for Samsung, shipping many general consumer electronics powered by Tizen. They may even finally get around to launching that Tizen smartphone we’ve heard about time and again. However, we do not expect to see Samsung bring any Tizen phones to MWC. Their next round of flagships, including the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, should run Android Lollipop.
See you at MWC
There you have it, our expectations, based on what we know so far, are for two versions of Samsung’s next flagship release, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and a curved screen variant, plus a round faced Moto 360 competitor smartwatch. You can be sure there will be other electronics at the show, including appliances and smart home technology too.
With several weeks until the show, there is plenty of room for Samsung to make changes to their lineup. Stay tuned, as we’ll be sure to bring you all the latest credible leaks and rumors as they come around. We’ll also be at the show, to bring you the same great coverage as we did for CES.
What do you think Samsung will bring to MWC 2015?
Android Authority this week
New devices, amazing technologies, lots of gadgets, some more useful than others. It was the week of CES, and, as always, it was a wild ride. The star of the show was LG’s curved G Flex 2, but a slew of other devices made their debut in Las Vegas. HTC brought the selfie-focused Desire 826, Lenovo launched several smartphones, ZTE had a nifty Android-powered projector, Sony introduced a new Smartwatch 3 model and a crazy expensive Android Walkman, Nvidia made a big fuss about its latest mobile chip, and, outside of CES, Samsung announced its newest mid-range smartphones. And that’s the biggest news – dozens of smaller companies announced everything from smart flower pots, to motorized belts, to self-driving vehicles.
Welcome to Android Authority this week.
Video roundup
Here’s Jayce’s video take on the events of the week.
Inside AA HQ
One of the reasons we love big shows like CES, MWC, and IFA is because they are some of the few times when AA members can get together. We talk online all the time, but there’s really nothing like meeting IRL for building the team and getting the creative juices flowing. Darcy, Derek, Andrew, Josh, Kev, and Lanh had a blast in Vegas, but they also worked hard to bring you quality coverage. For a big picture view of the week’s events, check out our roundups below, our CES 2015 tag page, and our YouTube channel.
Android Authority is podcasting again! This week’s Friday Debate included the first episode of AA’s new Friday Debate podcast, starring Josh, Kev, Lanh, and Andrew. The guys talked about a bit about themselves, and riffed on all the cool – and not so cool – stuff they saw at CES. We’re going for an audio-only format for now, but we could go video if we figure out how to bring you a great experience. Expect team AA members as regulars, talking about all things Android and more. Guests from throughout the industry will be joining us from time to time. We’re on YT for now, but we’ll get on other podcasting platforms soon. Let us know what topics would you like us to cover in our podcast!
As always, on our Sunday Giveaway, we put up for grabs a cool device. Today, it’s a G Watch R. Good luck!
The stuff you shouldn’t miss
Here are some interesting posts for your Sunday reading:
- Friday Debate: What was the best and worst of CES 2015? (Post and Podcast)
- Opinion: Fresh back from CES, Andrew looks at HTC’s road ahead for 2015
- Tech talk: Rob weighs down on the rumors about Snapdragon 810 overheating issues
- Roundup: CES takeaway: Android Auto
- Roundup: CES takeaway: wearables
- Roundup: CES takeaway: smartphones and tablets
- Opinion: Competition is not always good for customers, argues Simon
Top news of the week
And here are the top news in the Android world this week:
ZTE
- ZTE Grand X Max+ hands-on and first impressions
- ZTE SPro 2 first look and hands on
- ZTE Star 2 hands-on and first impressions
Lenovo
- Lenovo announces the 64-bit P90 and VIBE X2 Pro at CES
- Lenovo launches VIBE Band VB10 fitness band and VIBE Xtension Selfie Flash
Asus
- Asus launches 5.5-in ZenFone 2 and ZenFone Zoom, featuring 3X optical zoom
- Asus Zenfone 2 hands-on and first impressions
- Asus Zenfone Zoom hands-on and first impressions
G Flex 2
- LG G Flex 2 hands-on and first impressions
- LG G Flex 2 officially announced with Snapdragon 810 and improved design
- LG G Flex 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note Edge quick look
- LG G Flex 2 vs LG G Flex quick look
- The bendy LG G Flex 2 is coming to AT&T, Sprint and US Cellular
Sony
- Sony SmartWatch 3 gets a new stainless steel version, interchangeable bands too/
- Sony’s new 128GB Hi-Res Walkman offers excellent audio, for a price
- Sony SmartWatch 3 steel model hands on
- Sony goes all in with Android TV for their 2015 Bravia Smart TVs
- Hands-on with Sony’s 2015 Bravia TVs with Android TV
Nvidia X1
- Nvidia announces latest mobile processor, the Tegra X1
- Nvidia Tegra X1 powers Nvidia Drive CX car infotainment system
- Tegra X1 – a closer look at Nvidia’s “superchip”
Samsung
- Samsung’s new mid-rangers Galaxy E5 and Galaxy E7 debut today in India
- Samsung Galaxy Grand Max launches in South Korea, Galaxy A7 to debut in Malaysia
HTC
- HTC launches Desire 826 with UltraPixel selfie camera
- HTC Desire 826 vs HTC Desire Eye quick look
- HTC Desire 826 hands-on
Sound off
We always want to hear your feedback. Whether it’s criticism or praise, feel free to tell us what you think about Android Authority’s content, design, and community. Comment here or get in touch with us on our social channels:
Happy Sunday!
Apple processor order for smartwatches appears to be with Samsung
There is certainly no love lost between Apple and Samsung after years of contentious courtroom battles. In a sign of how severe the dislike between the companies was, at one point Apple decided to seek other manufacturers of processor chips for their mobile devices instead of continuing with one of the biggest suppliers on the block, Samsung. Despite that enmity, which has been cooling recently, business is business. In this case, Apple is trying to get a smartwatch out to market and that means they need chips for the devices. A new report indicates Apple has decided to utilize Samsung as the supplier for their forthcoming wearable.
The processor will be one part of Apple’s S1 system-in-package (SiP) which includes DRAM, NAND flash, the processor and some other peripheral chips. To supply the processor piece, Samsung will reportedly produce 3,000 to 4,000 12-inch wafers each month.
Analysts have already started the march to revise forecasts of Apple smartwatch sales downward for 2015. The wisdom seems to be the initial product may only sell 10 million units in 2015 while many consumers wait for the second generation smartwatch product from Apple to be announced. Although Samsung apparently has succeeded in winning the order for this round of Apple wearables, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is bidding heavily againt Samsung to win the contract for the next generation of the device. TSMC is the company that Apple shifted to as a supplier to replace the Samsung A8 chips in their other mobile devices.
source: Digitimes
Come comment on this article: Apple processor order for smartwatches appears to be with Samsung
CES 2015: Samsung showcases concept devices to be used in Avengers: Age of Ultron
A little known fact (or well-known depending on what circles you frequent) is that Samsung and Marvel made a deal last year that would see Samsung concept devices be featured in Marvel’s next blockbuster flick, Avengers: Age of Ultron and have those devices showcased for all to see. Some of this tech was shown off at CES […]
The post CES 2015: Samsung showcases concept devices to be used in Avengers: Age of Ultron appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
4K movies are coming to Blu-ray discs and hard drives
Sure, there are plenty of Ultra HD televisions floating around the Las Vegas Convention Center, but how will you find anything suitably super high-res to play on them? Netflix, Amazon and a few others have started 4K internet delivery while DirecTV and Comcast also have limited approaches, but sometimes you prefer media you can hold onto. Physical media fans have help on the way in two forms, but the bad news is neither one is ready to launch right now. The Blu-ray Disc Association has confirmed the name of its 4K format (Ultra HD Blu-ray) and many of its capabilities, while the Secure Content Storage Association has its own demo for Ultra HD movies you can download and transfer (almost) at will, with backing from Fox, Warner Bros., Samsung and others.
Panasonic is showing off a prototype Ultra HD Blu-ray player in its booth here, and shockingly — it’s a Blu-ray player. The demo unit has a hole cut in the top, but we didn’t spot any extra pixels leaking out anywhere. According to statements from various board members, licensing is on track to happen this summer and we could see discs by the end of this year. It’s expected that Ultra HD Blu-ray will upgrade the format to handle 33GB layers (up from the 25GB per layer of current discs) and discs that hold as much 100GB of data. You’ll need a new player to read the new discs, but the new players will be backwards compatible with existing Blu-ray movies. In our discussions with studio execs, we’ve heard that most movies encoded with HEVC (h.265, the new compression format for 4K video) should fit on dual-layer discs comfortably.
There’s room for 60fps video, HDR / Dolby Vision support, at least 10-bit color gradation and wide color gamut (read: better and more colors). Panasonic’s prototype player spec says it can push video at up to 100Mbps — far higher than the 15Mbps profiles we saw demonstrated by Netflix last year. Of course, there’s a lot of work to be done before the spec is final, and we still haven’t heard much about improvements to audio.
But what about those who have moved on to a discless lifestyle, or are just interested in a version of digital copies that can be carried around? The Secure Content Storage Association has stepped up and, like the BDA, says finalization of its spec is “coming soon.” We got a preview of what it’s working on this week, when Samsung announced that its new TVs would support 4K downloads from M-Go, by using the SCSA’s standards. We got a quick demo of what the consortium has planned and it most reminds us of what we’ve seen from internet stores for videogames like Steam, Xbox and PlayStation.
We’ll still need to wait and see exactly how Hollywood studios implement the DRM, but it’s set up so users can download copies of movies, store and watch them without hassle. There’s an ability to copy, move or share the stored files, and access various profiles for different devices like TVs, phones or tablets. In mocked-up player, users had the option make a licensed copy, registered to them and playable on any device, or an unlicensed copy. That copy of the movie can be shared, but if someone else wanted to play it they’d need to buy it from a store in order to unlock it for viewing.
Also built-in is support for finding any compatible files across a network, so if the movie is stored on your NAS, a PC, a phone or tethered hard drive it will pop up in the menu for playback. For better and/or worse, it all struck as as a sort of movie studio-designed variant of XBMC (oops, Kodi) or Plex.
The SCSA is also talking about quality, with support for Ultra HD, HDR and potentially things like high frame rate video. It’s also considering that customers might be able to upgrade their copies to a new version, so if for example a remastered HDR version of a movie comes out, it will be in your library. Our remaining questions cover things like studio / store support — you can count in the usual names from Ultraviolet plus some newcomers, but we’ll have to wait and see if Disney jumps in or goes its own way again. It appears that finding compatible devices won’t be difficult, and Qualcomm is on board to make sure its chips (probably inside your phones / tablets already) are compatible.
Formerly known as Project Phenix the SCSA is several years in the making, we’ll see if that long gestation was enough to strike a balance between the desires of studios and the customers it hopes will want to pay for downloadable movies.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung, Sony, LG
[Deal] Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 selling for just $379.99
The Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is one of the two AMOLED tablets sold by Samsung. And naturally, these are flagship offerings with a pretty steep price tag as well. But thanks to a new deal on eBay, you can now get the device for just $379.99.
The tablet costs upwards of $450 on other sites, which makes this an instant choice for prospective buyers. We’re not sure how long the price will last, but we suggest you proceed quickly before stocks run out.
The Galaxy Tab S 10.5 comes with a 2560 x 1600 resolution display, an octa core Exynos 5420 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (expandable), an 8-megapixel rear camera, fingerprint scanner, Android 4.4 KitKat and a 7,900 mAh battery.
The eBay listing mentions that the tablet comes in an already opened box, so we’re guessing it’s a refurbished product. Either way, make sure you read through the listing before making the purchase. The seller has a good feedback rating, so there should be no concerns regarding the quality of the product.
Source: eBay
Via: Android Headlines
Come comment on this article: [Deal] Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 selling for just $379.99
Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition is “no longer available for sale”
Today, we say goodbye to a longtime Google Play edition device. Following a stay of nearly two years in the Play Store, Google has formally retired the Galaxy S 4. The Samsung device carried an “out of stock” tag for quite some time, but now the same area reads “no longer available for sale.” This leaves the HTC One (M8) as the sole Google Play edition device available. Arguably, though, the Galaxy S 4 was the most welcome Google Play edition device because of its software. It stripped down Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay and stock Android ran the show.
Goodbye Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition. You will be dearly missed.
Source: Google Play
Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition is “no longer available for sale”
Verizon finally gets the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge – available now
Being an AT&T customer usually means I will have access to all of the latest and greatest phones, like the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge which I reviewed last month. Verizon customers can now order their own curved display phone today at http://www.verizonwireless.com. Pricing is similar to other carriers; pricing will start at $399.99 on a new 2-year contract, $799.00 full unlocked price, or $33.33 per month(24 months) for the most intriguing and innovative phone of 2014.
As a refresher, the Note Edge has all of the same features as the Note 4, but has a curved screen on the right side of the phone.
Source – Verizon
The post Verizon finally gets the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge – available now appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Samsung enhancing S Pen experience with Penvatars
Samsung Galaxy Note owners will be familiar with the little circle (pointer) that appears when the S Pen is brought near to the screen. Until now it has been purely functional, but now Samsung want to spice up the S Pen experience with the introduction of Penvatars.
Using a play-on-words – Penvatar rather than Avatar – this new feature by Samsung allows Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge users to chnage the pointer from a bland circle to a more interesting character, even a Marvel super hero.
It is being reported that Penvatars will only be available on the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge.
Penvatars come with a tie-in from Marvel comics. The demo shots from Samsung show a selection of Marvel themed icons under the category of “Marvels.” A closer look at these Penvatars shows that you can pick from a lots of different Marvel related icons including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Nick Fury, as well as things like Thor’s hammer or Captain America’s shield. In fact Samsung announced Penvatars on its Twitter feed with: “You can’t choose your super power, but you can choose your pointer with new Samsung Penvatars.”
It is being reported that Penvatars will only be available on the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge, and there is no word on whether Samsung will also add support for the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note tablets.
Samsung has made the announcement during CES and it probably won’t be too long before they will become available.
What do you think? Good idea or gimmick?
AIVAnet 
