Tag: Samsung

With the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus slated to be announced in a couple of days at Mobile World Congress, one of the big questions was around the price points for each device.  Thanks to the awesomeness of Evan Blass, we know that both devices are going to top the eye watering $1000 mark.

Pricing. pic.twitter.com/wu4GlK1FCU

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 22, 2018

Doing some currency conversion, it means that the Galaxy S9 is going to be just over $1000 while the S9 Plus will be hella expensive at $1299.

In an unexpected move, it looks like Samsung has pulled their Android Oreo update for the Samsung Galaxy S8 lineup.  The update to the latest version of Android began rolling out to beta testers in Europe last week but according to SamMobile, the build has been pulled from Samsung’s update servers.

The news likely means that a show stopping bug or other install issues was discovered after the limited rollout began, forcing the South Korean company to halt the updates to prepare a new build to address the issue.

Samsung looks to be the next manufacture to unlock the FM Chipset in their upcoming phones.  The news came via NextRadio, developers of a FM radio app for Android.  It will mean that going forward, Samsung phones will be able to access the app to listen to local FM stations but also potentially have access to emergency information when data and mobile networks are congested or unavailable.

Samsung joins the likes of LG, Alcatel and Motorola in unlocking the FM chipsets on their phones.  Almost all smartphones today have the ability to tune FM radio built into them but manufactures have locked them down, forcing customers to go to streaming services for music.  The bigger issue however is by doing so, it has cut off users from potentially life saving broadcast information.  If mobile networks are down, users can be cut off from any news and information that they may need in a disaster or emergency situation.

If you have a Samsung Galaxy Note8 on the AT&T network, there is an important update rolling out to you starting today.  The new update brings a wide range of fixes, most notably for the KRACK WiFi exploit as well as the BlueBorne Bluetooth exploit.  The new update is build N950USQU2BQJA for those keeping score at home.

The update will range 377MB to 386MB so it is recommend that Note8 owners download the update via WiFi.  Once downloaded, the install will take about 10 minutes and will require a reboot of your phone.  The update, in addition to the exploit fixes mentioned above, also brings the October Android Security Update to the device.

Good news this morning for those of you who have the Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus.  The company has begun rolling out an update that brings the October Android Security Update to the devices.  Software version G955FXXU1AQI9 is rolling out to unlocked variants of the phone and along with the security fixes, there are some other improvements to be found.  The update is 479MB in size so it is advised that you be connected to WiFi when you download it to install.

The biggest thing with the October update is a fix for Bluetooth issues that impacted all Android devices.  There are, of course, a wide range of other fixes and security updates too.

Today at a special Windows Mixed Reality event in San Francisco, Samsung announced their new headset, the Odyssey.  The headset will retail for $499 and will start shipping on November 6th.  Pre-Orders however have begun at the Microsoft Store.

The Odyssey will have built-in AKG headphones that will over spatial audio and has dual array microphones.  The OLED screen in the headset will render at 2880 x 1600 at 90Hz.  This is by far the highest resolution of the other Windows Mixed Reality headsets that are on the market.  It will also have 110° of viewing angle.  Motion controllers are also included with the headset.