Samsung says that it is setting aside 100B won ($85.8M) for compensation and prevention measures after some 200 of its employees contracted cancer through contact with dangerous substances. Samsung last year issued a “deep apology” for what was then believed to be 56 cases.
Reuters reports that illnesses such as lymphoma and leukemia resulted from prolonged exposure to either radiation or dangerous chemicals at Samsung’s chip and display factories … Expand Expanding Close
Many Samsung employees are expected to lose their jobs in the next week or two as the company is set to announce its annual personnel changes early next month. The company recently reported a 74% drop in mobile profits and is planning to produce 30% fewer smartphone models next year in the face of increasing competition from Chinese brands Xiaomi, Lenovo and Huawei.
According to a new report from Reuters, Samsung plans to invest as much as $3 billion toward opening its second Vietnam-based smartphone factory in an effort to produce hardware at a lower cost. An unnamed government official confirmed that the project is ongoing, and a Samsung spokesperson shared that the company is in talks with the government over the investment.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) has applied for a license to invest $3 billion in building a second smartphone factory in northern Vietnam, a government official said on Monday.
Granted that isn’t Samsung’s official reason for launching the ruggedized version of the Galaxy Tab, which is both water and dust resistant, and protected against 1.2 metre drops. Samsung says that the Galaxy Tab Active is likely to appeal to business users who need to use tablets in places like construction sites and transport depots.
Along with the protective casing, the device has what is described as a tougher C-Pen stylus. You might wonder how many Galaxy Tab variants are needed, but the company says that it consulted with Fortune 500 companies to determine what was needed from a professional tablet … Expand Expanding Close
Samsung just announced the Galaxy Note 4 in White, Black, and a Zune Gold and Hello Kitty Pink. Color taste aside, the update looks to be a solid one across the board.
Quick notes on standout features:
LTE Category 6
Latest Google Android OS (L)
Design: Metal Frame, stronger glass
Weight: 176g, 8.5mm thin
Quad HD 2560×1440 display
Snap note expands on Note’s bility to take notes, this time with a camera and some smart software.
The Galaxy Note 4 also offers an improved Fingerprint Scanner, to secure personal data and the world’s first UV sensor in a mobile device.
Following allegations that one of Samsung’s suppliers in China was using child labor despite passing three separate Samsung audits, the company has now suspended its contract with the supplier. It says that if the allegations are substantiated, it will permanently cease doing business with the supplier.
Samsung’s 2014 Sustainability Report originally claimed that no instances of child labor had been found, but China Labor Watch said that it had found examples of child labour at a Samsung supplier in Dongguan, China, with several children found to be working 11 hours a day … Expand Expanding Close
The WSJ reports that Samsung stock fell 1.9 percent as chief financial officer Lee Sang-hoon admitted that the company’s quarter two performance “doesn’t look too good.”
The comments were enough to drive down the stock price. Samsung Electronics’ stock fell 1.9% to 1,320,000 won (US$1,296.4) as concerns over slowing profit growth reignited. Shares have fallen 8.5% so far this month, hit by a series of downgrades in earnings forecasts for the world’s largest seller of smartphones …
Samsung is addressing one of the biggest issues with its Galaxy Gear smart watch it introduced earlier this year: device compatibility. Several Samsung devices including its Galaxy S3, S4, Note 2, and Mega smartphones will receive compatibility via a software update in Android 4.3.
Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smart watch debuted alongside Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 smartphone and Galaxy Note 10.1tablet with support limited to those devices. Initial reviews overwhelmingly disapproved of Samsung’s smart watch offering, but widening device compatibility is surely a step in the right direction. (Full press release below)
Samsung announced today that it is launching the “Samsung Solution Exchange” to offer unique mobile solutions to business owners. The app marketplace of sorts will offer businesses an easy way to find productivity and business related apps from third-party developers that are specifically suited for Samsung devices:
The Samsung Solutions Exchange delivers a range of offerings from third party providers that increase productivity and ROI, including sales and management applications, mobile device management solutions, cloud services, collaboration tools and security solutions – all designed to make it easier for enterprises to succeed in the new era of mobile business with our robust suite of SAFE devices.
Samsung says it will work with third-party developers, MDM providers, and sales channels to “systematically identify unique customer requirements and rapidly deliver end-to-end solutions.” To do that it will be making its SDK available to those that are part of the new Samsung Solution Exchange and a web portal will make it possible for business to discover new mobile solutions.
Samsung’s JK Shin today announced the Galaxy Note 3 at IFA today with improved LTE radios, better enterprise capabilities and improved specs. The Note 3 has a 5.7″ 1080p screen (up from 5.5″), 3GB of RAM (up from 2), 13 megapixel camera, 32/64GB storage, 3200mAh battery and a leather-like rear cover. It is also thinner and lighter even with the bigger display.
Samsung also updated the Note 10.1 2014 edition with better speakers, leather cover and display.
September 25th is the launch date and the products will roll out globally in October. Press releases and videos follow: Expand Expanding Close
Samsung’s first device running the Tizen operating system, an open-source Android alternative jointly developed by Samsung and Intel, has reportedly been delayed from its planned August launch to October. Korean site iNews24 (via Techmeme) says that the main reason for the delay is issues with the Tizen app store Samsung is developing.
Tizen is aimed at low-cost handsets, primarily for Asian markets, though Samsung’s handsets are expected to make their debut in Europe. The IFA show in Berlin in September is the most likely venue for the official launch, even though it now seems the handsets may not be available by then.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, police in South Korea searched offices belonging to Samsung yesterday in a raid connected with an ongoing case related to whether or not Samsung was involved in the leaking of trade secrets. Police originally charged six employees from LG Display related to the theft of OLED technology from Samsung. Reports from last year claimed Samsung employees were fired in connection with leaking the technology, and today an LG spokesperson confirmed the latest investigation is related to its OLED TV panel technology:
“The latest investigation is related to large-sized OLED TV panel technology, but the police have made the allegation themselves,” Son Young Jun, a Seoul-based LG Display spokesman, said by phone today. LG said in July the information its employees were charged with leaking or stealing at the time was widely known in the industry and wasn’t considered to contain trade secrets.
Police in the South Korea wouldn’t comment on yesterday’s raid, but LG reportedly said “it didn’t report Samsung to police in connection with the current investigation.” Expand Expanding Close
Google Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra posted some vacation photos to his Google+ (via AndroidCentral) page that appear to have been snapped by a yet-to-be unveiled Samsung Nexus 10. Some information that we learn about the tablet’s camera specs: the image is shot at 2,048-by-1,536 resolution (3.1 megapixels), which is rather low, but that’s likely because Google+ resized the images. It seems unlikely Vic would post images from another device with the camera listed as “Nexus 10,” but we’ll know for sure on Monday when Google is expected to announce the Nexus 10 alongside the new LG Nexus 4 in New York.
Samsung is updating its television lineup with the Samsung ES8000 LED TV. It features a dual core processor, slim bezel, and U-shaped stand. The television goes up to 55-inches and displays a more intuitive user-interface with an emphasis on voice interaction, facial recognition, integrated camera controls for multi-video conferencing, and multitasking.
“Let’s say you are watching a movie on Netflix and want to check in on the hockey highlights, just toggle from Netflix to one of my favorite apps, NHL Game center, and come right back to the movie without having to quit the app and launch another app,” said Samsung America President of Consumer Electronics Division Tim Baxter at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year.
Samsung’s all-new 55-inch flat screen will début later this year with the Smart TV platform on board. The product’s pricing details and release date are currently not known, but the South Korea-based Company fully detailed its television and Web-based platform that allows users to find, control, and experience their set and media by way of Smart Interaction, Smart Content, and Smart Evolution.
Samsung announced today that it acquired mSpot, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based mobile cloud contents service provider. Specifics of the deal were not disclosed, but Samsung said it made the acquisition to add a better cloud aspect to music and video services that are used on Samsung’s devices. A mSpot app will come pre-loaded on every new Samsung device announced in the future (will it be on the Galaxy S III?). Samsung will also most likely use engineers and technology from mSpot to work on a better entertainment offering to compete with Apple’s iTunes and Google’s Play store.
Previously available on Amazon and a few other retailers, Samsung has made the Galaxy Nexus available on NewEgg for $700. Don’t get your hopes up however, this isn’t the Verizon Wireless version — rather the GSM version that works with a T-mobile or AT&T SIM card. NewEgg’s price cuts Amazon’s by more than $50.
We know the Galaxy Nexus will be launching in the US in the coming weeks exclusively on Verizon, and it’s not clear which carrier will get it (if ever) after Verizon. If you’re not ready to switch to Verizon and want the Galaxy Nexus — here’s your chance.
The smoke has cleared on Google’s $12.5B purchase of Chicago-based Motorola and now that almost everyone has had a chance to speak, I think we’re starting to understand what went down.
Google purchased Motorola (MMI) for $12.5B, a 63% premium over its weekend closing price. Motorola, however, has around $3B in cash and securities, which makes the real purchase a slightly more reasonable $9.5B for Google. For instance, if Google wanted to slice and dice Motorola, they’d take the cash and patents and sell off the cable box and device divisions for a couple billion dollars each and come away with about what they would have paid for Nortel – and get double to triple the patents. On sheer numbers of patents alone, it seems like a good buy. Obviously some patents are worth more than others.
If the deal doesn’t go through, Google owes Motorola $2.5B for the trouble, so Google is dead serious about this play.
But back to what Motorola does: They have IP, they make smartphones, they make tablets and they make cable top boxes. It seems like almost too good a setup for Andy Rubin’s Android to just want to sell off piecemeal.
But did Google want to pick up a hardware company? I reported earlier this year that the Android Hardware division that Andy Rubin had started up with former Danger Co-founders had intentions to build physical devices, not just Operating Systems.
That scale is what attracted and the former Danger founders to get the band back together, with their goal being to build the hardware and features they want to see show up in new Android devices. It’s not enough for Google to just provide Android software to carrier — now they hope to influence what handset makers build, too.
Samsung today issued the following statement announcing its planned Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch event in Australia has been postponed, citing legal spat with Apple (viaGizmodo):
In light of the current legal proceedings by Apple Inc. against Samsung Electronics Australia, Samsung regrets to announce it will be postponing its media launch event, scheduled for 11th August 2011, for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
The company will announce a new date for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 media launch event “as soon as practicable”. It’s another PR blow for Samsung Mobile which has thus far confused the press with inconsistent messages about the Australia situation…
Hot off the heels of withdrawing their counter-suit against Apple, Samsung has announced they have sold 3 million Galaxy S IIs in just 55 days. This is a new record for the company beating sales of the Galaxy S by 30 days. What’s surprising here is this phone hasn’t landed in the U.S. yet (at least not tied to a carrier), but is seeing great sales worldwide. Samsung says sales have been doing very well in Europe and globally (especially Korea), selling one device every 1.5 seconds, or 55,000 a day. In the U.K., Samsung has been the number one manufacturer for 17 straight weeks.
