Samsung almost bought Fingerprint Cards AB, they make almost all the fingerprint sensors on current smartphones

Years ago, there was a fake story going around that Samsung was going to buy a fingerprint reader company for $650 million. Later, the story was found to be totally false. However, it may have been a huge mistake for Samsung.

Fingerprint Cards AB was the company said to be bought back then, but what are they up to now? Oh nothing much, just making all the fingerprint sensors for the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, OnePlus 2, LG V10, plus many new phones coming out.

These fingerprint sensors work really well too. The reason they work so well is because they use technology built by Precise Biometrics, which handle all the fingerprint recognition and matching algorithms.

It’s too bad that fake story about Samsung buying Fingerprint Cards AB didn’t turn out to be true. Samsung would of been in control of almost all the fingerprint sensors on mobile phones today. Instead, Samsung has to buy their sensors from Synaptics.

Source: The Verge 

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6 problems with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and how to fix them

If you loved everything about the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge but wished it featured a bigger display and offered better battery life, Samsung has you covered with the Galaxy S6 Edge+. As the “plus” suffix suggests, this device comes with the same design language as its smaller namesake, including the beautiful metal and glass unibody design and unique curved edges on both sides of the display, but with a larger 5.7-inch screen. The Galaxy S6 Edge+ does command quite the premium, but like every other smartphone out there, isn’t without its issues. Which is why we’ve rounded up some of the common problems faced by Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ users, and offer potential solutions on how to fix them.

Disclaimer: Not every Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ owner will face these issues, and it is actually more than likely that you won’t come across any of the problems listed below.

Problem #1 – Missing menu button

Some applications detect that the device you are using, in this case the Galaxy S6 Edge+, comes with a physical menu button implementation and remove the in-app menu/more options button (the three dot button at the top right corner) from the app. While previous Samsung flagships like the Galaxy S5 allowed access to the menu with a long press of the home button, that is no longer the case, yet some apps don’t have the menu key with the Galaxy S6 Edge+.

Potential solutions:

• From the Galaxy S6 onwards, including the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5, the menu button access is available with a long press of the back button, instead of the home button. Some users have found this to not work with select applications however.
• While you will need those apps to be updated accordingly for there to be a permanent fix, there is a temporary workaround available. Go into Settings – Accessibility – Dexterity and interaction – Assistant menu, and enable the Assistant menu. Tapping on Edit will give you the options for which functions you want included. Make sure that More Options is selected here. There will now be a floating button on all screens, which will include the More Options/Menu button, and can be used in the various apps where you previously faced an issue.

Problem #2 – Missing toggles from the Quick Settings menu in the notification dropdown

Users have found certain random toggles to go missing from the Quick Settings menu in the notification dropdown. This was also a common problem with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge.

Potential solutions:

• As mentioned, this was a common problem with the smaller Samsung flagships as well, and luckily, Samsung has a permanent fix in store. All you have to do is go to the Samsung App Store and download the QuickPanel Restore application. Clicking on the Restore button in the app should fix this problem.

Problem #3 – Fast charging not working as expected

With the fast charger included with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, the device should be fully charged in one hour and 30 minutes, at most. Quite a few users have found this to not be the case however.

Potential solutions:

• Luckily, this seems to be a problem not on the software side of things, but rather an issue with the charging cable itself, with what looks like a faulty batch of USB cables from Samsung making their way to users. Sometimes, all that is required is to unplug the cable from the wall charger and place it back in properly for the device to charge at the expected speed. Of course, the best solution here is to pick up a new cable.

Problem #4 – Ghost notifications and vibrations

Some users have found their device to continuously give a notification alert and vibrates at the same time, sometimes as often as every few minutes, although the duration between incidents seems to vary from user to user, without there actually being any notifications.

Potential solutions:

• Go to Settings – Accessibility and check if Notification Reminder is activated. Notification Reminder essentially keeps repeating a notification alert until you take some action with the notification, which is what happens in this problem, but without there actually being anything. Turning Notification Reminder off seems to do the trick. Some users have also found that in the Notification Reminder settings, picking and choosing certain apps where the reminder should work doesn’t seem to cause any problems, but having it activated for all apps is where the issue comes.

Problem #5 – Randomly reboots, shuts down, or becomes unresponsive

Potential solutions:

• If the device freezes, you can force a reboot using the hardware buttons of the device. You can find out how to do so in the guides below.
• If this problem has occurred after a software update, wiping the cache partition might help. The instructions to do so are below.
• Finally, you can check to see if a rogue app is creating this problem. First, boot the device into Safe Mode (instructions below) and see if the problem persists. If it doesn’t, an application is the cause for concern. You can try removing the last few apps you have installed or updated to see if the problem continues.
• In extreme cases, only a Factory Reset may do the trick.

Problem #6 – Connectivity issues

As is the case with any new device, there is a chance that you might face issues with connecting to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but in the case of the Galaxy S6 Edge+ there are specific connectivity issues as well. Some users have found the Wi-Fi to be slow, or have to connection drop every 15 minutes or so, and then failing to reconnect. In the case of Bluetooth, users are having difficulty with connecting the phone with multiple Bluetooth devices at the same, such as their wireless headphones and a smartwatch.

Potential solutions:

Wi-Fi connection keeps dropping

• This seems to be a very common issue, specifically with wireless routers that support both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Go into the Advanced settings in the Wi-Fi menu of the phone, and look for Wi-Fi Frequency Band. Change it from the default Automatic selection to 2.4 GHz only, and this seems to fix the problem for most users.

Cannot connect to Wi-Fi

• Turn the device and the router off for at least ten seconds, then turn them back and retry the connection.
• Go to Settings – Power saving and ensure that this option is turned off.
• Use the Wi-Fi Analyzer to check how crowded your channel is, and switch to a better option.
• Forget the Wi-Fi connection by going to Settings – Wi-Fi and long tapping the connection you want, then selecting “Forget”. Re-enter the details and try again.
• Make sure the router firmware is up to date.
• Make sure the applications and software on the device are up to date.
• Go into Wi-Fi – Settings – Advanced and make a note of your device MAC address, then make sure that it is allowed access in the router’s MAC filter.

Bluetooth issues

• As far as multi-device connectivity issues are concerned, this seems to be a problem only when using an Android Wear smartwatch and another Bluetooth device at the same, like wireless headphones. Try uninstalling the Android Wear application to see if the issue persists. While a common problem, there is unfortunately no permanent fix yet, other than to not use more than one device at a time, but a future software update will hopefully take care of it.
• Check the manufacturer’s manual for the device and the car and reset your connections.
• Ensure that you are not missing a vital part of the connection process.
• Go to Settings – Bluetooth and ensure nothing needs changing
• Go into Settings – Bluetooth delete all prior pairings and try setting them up again from scratch.

Guides – Soft reset, hard reset, wipe cache partition, boot into Safe Mode

Soft Reset

• Press and hold the power button and volume down key simultaneously for about 10 seconds until the device powers off. This works when the screen is unresponsive.

Hard Reset

• With the device turned off, press and hold the volume up key, home button, and power button simultaneously.
• When the Samsung logo appears, release the power button, but continue to hold the volume up and home buttons.
• When the Android system recovery screen appears, release all buttons.
• Use the volume down button to toggle the selection to “wipe data/factory reset,” then press the power button to accept it.
• Use the volume down button to toggle the selection to “Yes — delete all user data,” then press the power button.
• Wait for the reset to finish. You will eventually be prompted to “Reboot system now.” Press the power button to continue.
• If the phone is on, go to Settings – Backup & reset – Reset device – Erase Everything.

Wipe cache partition

• With the device turned off, press and hold the volume up key, home button, and power button simultaneously.
• When the Samsung logo appears, release the power button, but continue to hold the volume up and home buttons.
• When the Android system recovery screen appears, release all buttons.
• Use the volume down button to toggle the selection to “wipe cache partition,” then press the power button to accept it.
• When the previous menu returns, go up and select “Reboot system now,”

Boot in Safe Mode

• When the device is turned off, turn the device on again and press and hold the volume down button until a “Safe Mode” button shows up. Tap that button to boot your device in safe mode.

This concludes our roundup of some of the most frequent problems faced by Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ owners, and what they can do about them. If you ran in any of these problems and you found alternative solutions, let us know and we’ll revisit the issue. For more Galaxy S6 Edge+ discussions, or if you have any questions, check out our official forums!

If you’re still unsure if you want to get the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, don’t let this list of issues faze you. These problems are generally quite rare, and in the case of any software bugs, will be fixed with future software updates. For what is worth, you risk running into problems like this with most devices.