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Samsung Pay Korean transactions of $30M exceed expectations, says company, in run-up to U.S. launch

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Samsung has announced that its mobile wallet service Samsung Pay has been used for more than $30M worth of transactions in its first month in the company’s home market of Korea. The company says that the number “has been beyond our expectations.”

Samsung devices are hugely popular within Korea, and the WSJ notes that the “launch was boosted by a massive advertising campaign,” so this doesn’t necessarily suggest that it will see achieve similar take-up in the U.S. when it launches on Monday – especially given the limited number of Samsung devices that support it … 
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Samsung testing Snapdragon 820 in Galaxy S7 according to leaked benchmarks

Samsung caused a lot of chatter in the tech scene when it decided to eschew Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips in favor of its own Exynos processors this year. All four of Samsung’s high end devices feature its own processor in every market worldwide. But that could change next year. According to a few leaks posted to Chinese social network, weibo, Qualcomm has sent a few different versions of its Snapdragon 820 processor to Samsung for testing in its Galaxy S7.


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Samsung had a few taunts of its own after Apple’s iPhone 6s, iPad Pro event last night

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Leading up to Apple’s eagerly anticipated keynote presentation last night, Sony had a jab prepared for the iPhone-makers before they unveiled the iPhone 6s, Apple TV and iPad Pro. It seems, however, Sony wasn’t the only manufacturer attempting to rain on Apple’s parade. Arguably Apple’s biggest competitor, Samsung had a few of its own jibes to share with us and took to its UK Twitter handle to publish them…


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T-Mobile announces native video calling on Galaxy Note 5 and Edge 6+, other Android phones soon

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T-Mobile, in a blog post this morning, announced a brand new communication service for its customers. Without needing to install a third party app, T-Mo subscribers will be able to place video calls from a compatible device, just by using the regular phone interface. Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 users should have the feature available already through a software update rolling out today, while Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge customers can expect the download to arrive next week. By the end of this year, three more phones will have video calling enabled, giving T-Mo a total of 7 compatible devices.


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Samsung’s new Car Mode for Galaxy is its own Android Auto

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Samsung just wrapped up its keynote event at the IFA trade show here in Berlin where it spent most of its presentation time discussing the trend of software powering everything in our lives, called Internet of Things. One peculiar new service in particular was an in-car dashboard app that works with the company’s Galaxy line of Android smartphones.


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Crazy thin Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 goes on pre-order today, launches September 3rd

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Samsung recently announced a brand new tablet range dubbed the Galaxy Tab S2, and today, the company has announced that its new 8.0-inch and 9.7-inch tablets are going to be available to pre-order from Samsung, Amazon and Best Buy starting today. They’re expected to launch at partner retailers and carriers on September 3rd. Pricing starts at $399 for the Wi-Fi only 8-inch model with 32GB storage, with the 9.7-inch 32GB Wi-Fi only version costing $499.

T-Mobile is one of the first U.S. carriers to announce that it will be selling the LTE-equipped versions of the tablets from September for $649 full retail, or $0 down and 24 monthly payments of around $27.

As revealed previously, apart from size, the two Galaxy Tab S2 models share almost identical specifications. Both 4:3 ratio screens have a resolution of 2048 x 1536, both have 8MP rear cameras and 2.1MP front cameras. Both are also powered by the same octa-core processor, feature 32GB storage (expandable up to 218GB) and 3GB RAM, although there is a 64GB storage option for the 9.7-inch version. Both also have 802.11 Wi-Fi up to AC standard with 2.4GHz and 5GHz compatibility and have Bluetooth 4.1 radios, fingerprint scanners and a bunch of the usual motion and light sensors. Both, incredibly, are also just 5.6mm thin. The only other real difference is the battery capacity: The small version features 4,000mAh while the larger one has 5,870mAh.

So far, we’ve ben unable to locate any pre-order pages, but we’ll update the post with links to those as soon as they go live.

Sprint Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge receiving Samsung Pay, live broadcasting via YouTube, more

The service may not be launching until next month, but owners of Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are now receiving an over-the-air update which includes support for Samsung Pay. The update, which you’ll need approximately 303MB of free storage to install, includes some other additions as well.

For starters, there’s support for live video broadcasting over YouTube, which has been a highly-requested ability from the video hosting platform ever since the launch of the competing Meerkat and Periscope apps. This is possible thanks to WatchMe, an open-source project by Google that allows app developers to integrate with the YouTube Data and YouTube Live Streaming APIs, among others.  There’s also higher quality audio output to Samsung headsets (those new Level On headphones, perhaps?), UI updates, and the usual bug fixes.

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Samsung Pay is Samsung’s mobile payments app and service that is different from other solutions from Google and Apple because it includes the ability to pay at nearly any credit card terminal. It does this through the use of MST technology, the same thing used in the magnetic strips on the back of all credit and debit cards.

While Samsung Pay is expected to work in far more places than Android Pay and Apple Pay currently do, Verizon Wireless here in the States is still evaluating whether or not to allow the service onto the Samsung devices it sells, according to a representative from the company speaking to 9to5Google.

The update could take several days to hit devices. You can check manually by visiting Settings > About phone > System updates.

McDonald’s preparing staff for Android Pay launch this week

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McDonald’s has been circulating an update to its staff relating to changes in its mobile payment offerings. If the details being sent internally to employees are accurate, Android Pay could be available to customers from August 26th (two days away). Android Pay, of course, was one of the big announcements made at Google’s I/O conference last month and was unveiled alongside Android M, which we now know is 6.0 Marshmallow.

There are reasons to be skeptical about this date. Mostly, the two communications shown by Android Police state that McDonald’s is rolling out Samsung Pay support on August 21st (last Friday). That date, we know, is incorrect. Friday may have been the release date for the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, but Samsung’s mobile payment solution isn’t expected until next month. This could simply be an honest mistake. If so, it seems strange that we’ve heard nothing about McDonald’s higher-ups not informing staff of its error. Another explanation is possibly that the company is rolling out support way ahead of launch to make sure they’re ready. After all, they have some 14,000 stores in the U.S. alone.

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There is a chance that the Android Pay launch date is accurate even if the Samsung Pay one isn’t. If it is accurate it would come as something of a surprise. We’d initially expected that Android Pay would be publicly available around the same time as Android 6.0 Marshmallow to tie the two launches together. In fact, Google stated as much when it was announced. Saying that, it was also announced that Android versions from KitKat and later would support it, suggesting that it would at least be possible to launch Pay before Marshmallow, even if it isn’t probable.

If I had to guess, I’d say McDonald’s got its dates wrong by about one month. Still, I’ll be delighted if Android Pay does launch this week.

Samsung is showing ads to device owners through push notifications

Not you too, Samsung. After reporting early this month that HTC was sending advertisements to owners of its devices through push notifications, it appears that Samsung is doing something similar.

Android Police is today reporting that owners of Samsung devices have reached out to the site to share with them screenshots of ads appearing in the slide-down menu that includes all their notifications. The ads — one for the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is pictured — appear inside cards that looks just like every other notification. They’re delivered via the Samsung Push Service, a piece of software Samsung pre-installs on its Android devices to send helpful information to device owners. Not exactly helpful this time, though.

We weren’t terribly surprised when HTC started doing this, being in the kind of financial straits they are, but it’s definitely surprising coming from a technology giant like Samsung. The company’s software is already notoriously bloated and known to kill running apps a little too quickly, so this is just another blow for a company that has only just began to produce great phones again after an uninteresting Galaxy S5.

Aside from people just not liking ads in general, much of the frustration here centers around the distrust it creates. While we pay for cable television and still see ads there, it hasn’t become acceptable practice to see ads in and around the gadgets we buy with our hard earned money. Hopefully OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) don’t think they can make it okay.

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Best Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ cases already available to order

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After first unveiling its new phablets five days ago, Samsung will start selling the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ smartphones this week. Some carriers will be selling it already, while others are waiting for the official August 21st release date. Chances are, you don’t want to take any risks with damaging your precious and ludicrously expensive smartphone. It may fare better than the S5 in drop tests, but it’s probably best for you not to test that, on purpose or by accident. With that in mind, check out some of the cases already announced by some of the best accessory makers around.


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Samsung’s first Galaxy Note 5 commercial airs: It’s all about that S-Pen

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Samsung pushed its first Galaxy Note 5 TV commercial to YouTube today, and no surprise, it’s all about what you can do with that S-Pen. Set to a fast-paced percussion soundtrack, with speedy cuts in the edit, it has been designed to make you excited at all you can do with the stylus as well as convey a sense of productivity and speed.


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Carrier Availability: Where to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ in the US

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Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ have just been announced and carriers aren’t holding back in letting us know when and where we can get hold of these new devices. The US is going to be one of the first countries to get the latest flagship phablets. Here’s where you can get them and when…


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Samsung teases round Gear S2 smartwatch, unveiling on September 3rd at IFA

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With Samsung deciding to host its own event to launch the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ today, we assumed the company was ditching IFA altogether. Turns out that’s not the case. Right at the end of today’s presentation, the Korean tech giant teased its next smartwatch, the Gear S2. It will be unveiled in Berlin on September 3rd.


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Samsung embedding its Unpacked livestream into banner ads around the web

Screen Shot 2015-08-13 at 9.49.08 AMI think Samsung saw OnePlus do something unique for its recent product announcement and said, “We can do something like that too!”

If you haven’t already noticed, technology sites across the web have been blanketed in advertisements promoting Samsung’s Unpacked product event where it just unveiled the much-anticipated (and much leaked) Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+. But there’s something unique happening here.

These advertisements have the Unpacked livestream embedded within themselves. Yes, no tricks here — it’s the actual YouTube stream, 100% in-sync and all. It does end after about 30 seconds, though, and directs you to continue on YouTube or Samsung’s website.

These unique banner ads are also similar to OnePlus’s VR-based product unveiling (read: shenanigans) in that they’re pretty annoying and unnecessary. Nobody likes banner ads as-is, but autoplaying video ads incite an even different level of rage. Even better is that sites like ours already had the stream embedded in posts.

Samsung Galaxy S6+ August 21 preorder date ‘accidentally’ leaked

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Samsung is set to announce the brand new Galaxy Note 5 alongside the Galaxy S6 Edge+ at an Unpacked event on Thursday, this week. Although the company hasn’t officially shed any light on what it intends to reveal, we’re pretty certain by now that the aforementioned phones will be shown off. With the number of leaks, including the most recent retail photos, it’s hard not to be confident of that fact. What we weren’t entirely sure of was the exact retail launch date.

Thanks to some sharp eyes from Dutch Samsung blog, Galaxy Club, we can see that the French Samsung site accidentally revealed the pre-order time frame, before promptly removing the information. Roughly translated, Samsung’s site says the phone will be available to pre-order between August 21st and September 3rd, perhaps suggesting a September 4 retail launch. What’s more, there’s a special where customers get a free pair of Level On headphones and three months of Google Play music with the Galaxy S6 Edge+.

While this leak seemingly confirms the pre-order date for French customers, it doesn’t reveal anything pertaining to its global launch schedule. We’re yet to discover if the US, UK and other nations will all receive their devices on the same date. Although we’d hope Samsung would synchronize the launch multi-nationally, we can never be sure with the giant Korean tech giant. It has prioritized Europe often in the past. Thankfully, we only have two days left to wait before Samsung reveals all.

Samsung’s Note 5 and S6 Edge+ are expected to share similar specifications, including a 5.7-inch QuadHD AMOLED display, an octa-core Exynos processor and 4GB RAM alongside a 16MP main camera and wireless charging. The one feature that should set the Note 5 apart from its sibling is the redesigned S-Pen, which will again act as the unique selling point for Samsung’s flagship phablet.

 

Galaxy Note 5 leaked in clearest images yet, complete with retail packaging

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Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 5 has been leaked in full, showing the device from almost every angle, complete with packaging and compared alongside the iPhone 6 Plus to show its relative size. As you can probably tell from the images, the photos were snapped by a retail worker. A Samsung rep had been in to his store with the two unreleased phablets (Note 5 and S6 Edge+).


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Purported Galaxy Note 5 specs leaked: Octa-core Exynos chip, 4GB RAM, more…

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Not long after he leaked the official press renders for the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, Evan Blass let us in on the next Samsung phablet’s likely specification list. The device code-named Samsung Noble, model SM-N920 will supposedly feature a 5.66-inch QHD display, 4GB RAM and an octa-core Exynos 7420 processor made up of two quad-core chips (2.1GHz plus 1.5GHz). Alongside those, it’s predicted Samsung will pack in a 16MP rear camera, a 5MP front camera and run it on Android 5.1.1.

Perhaps the least surprising specification, but most disappointing, is the purported lack of expandable memory. Like the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge launched earlier this year, Samsung is going to go with internal storage only and not offer Micro SD card support.

Samsung is expected to announced the Galaxy Note 5 and its curved sibling at a press event on August 13. Let’s hope we have at least a few surprises from the Korean tech giant when the next Unpacked event kicks off. Right now, we seem to have a pretty clear picture of the next devices coming our way.

Press renders of Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ leaked

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Barely a week goes by when we don’t get another piece of the puzzle to add to the ever-clearer image of what Samsung’s going to announce in two weeks time. We’ve seen leaked schematics, unofficial 3D renders and photos as well as the usual rumors on release date and specifications. Now, what looks like an official press render has leaked out courtesy of Evan Blass on Twitter.


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Qualcomm to make $1.4 billion in cuts, restructure board after disappointing year

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Qualcomm, the company behind the all-conquering Snapdragon processors, said today that it will cut $1.4 billion in costs and restructure its board after being pressured by an activist investor to make changes. The move could see the chip-maker cut thousands of jobs as it seeks to streamline its operations. Qualcomm’s revenue is significantly lower than it was 12 months ago, and its chip business isn’t the powerhouse it used to be.


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Report: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 to get August 13 unveiling in New York City

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For some time now it’s been predicted that Samsung will skip the noise of IFA in September and choose to launch the Galaxy Note 5 in August. We had heard previously that Sammy was planning an event for its flagship phablet on August 12th. Business Korea, however, stepped in this morning with its own information claiming the Note 5 is being launched just a little later than that.

According to the publication’s sources, Samsung will host an unveiling event in New York City on August 13, during which it will announce both the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.


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OnePlus 2 revealed in TENAA images, shows physical “home” button and more

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The OnePlus 2 looks to have been outed by the Chinese certification body, TENAA. These images appear to show front, back and side profiles of the next-generation OnePlus smartphone, which looks like it’ll include a physical home button similar to the Samsung Galaxy S6 – presumably where the built-in fingerprint sensor will be housed … 
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Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 announced, and it’s ridiculously thin

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This morning in Seoul, Korea, Samsung announced its latest Galaxy Tab, and it’s ludicrously thin. Both models of Samsung’s metal-framed Galaxy Tab S2 measure in at just 5.6mm thin and feature either a 9.7-inch or 8.0-inch, 2084×1536 resolution Super AMOLED screen. The S2 will be available to buy across the globe from August.

Other specifications include an 8MP rear camera, 2.1MP front-facing camera and an octacore processor made up of a 1.9GHz quad-core and a 1.3GHz quad-core chip. The Tab S2 will ship with a fingerprint sensor built-in, 3GB RAM and either 32GB or 64GB inbuilt storage, expandable up to an extra 128GB. If you go with the larger 9.7-inch model, you’ll get a 5,870mAh battery while the 8-inch has a 4,000mAh cell. There will be LTE and Wi-Fi only models available at launch.


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Galaxy Note 5 S-Pen leaks, it’s all shiny [Gallery]

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While there are tons of phablets on the market now, Samsung still manages to remain unique by equipping its Note series handsets with the versatile S-Pen. In my experience, it’s been great for making quick notes or grabbing quick screenshots to edit and share. It goes without saying then, that the Galaxy Note 5 will also ship with the advanced stylus. Judging from these most recent leaks, it’s going to be much shinier than previous versions and could have a press-able, or clickable end at the top.

Take a look at the pictures below. They were originally shared on Chinese social media site, Weibo and picked up by Steve Hemmerstoffer at NWE. If you look closely at the two images showing the top end of the S-Pen, you’ll clearly see that the gap between the end and the main shaft of the stylus is bigger in one than the other.

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If I had to guess as to why it was designed this way, I’d suggest that it’s almost certainly to help release the S-Pen from its silo. The way the phone has been designed (based on leaks) suggests that the stylus sits flush with the metal chassis of the smartphone. Case leaks have suggested that there’s not going to be any special room left for you to pry the stylus out with your fingernail. So, perhaps the end of the pen — when pressed — clicks and extends, so that you can easily remove the S-Pen from the body of the phone.

Other possibilities are easily eliminated. It’s clearly not replacing the Air Command button, since that’s still built in to the shaft of the pen. And it doesn’t extend the tip of the S-Pen either, since that’s ever-present, and visible in the photos, regardless of whether or not the top end is extended.

Rumors so far have indicated we’ll see this new Galaxy Note 5 launch alongside a Galaxy S6 Edge+ at the end of August. Both devices will essentially look like the S6 and S6 Edge, except much larger and with the inclusion of this redesigned stylus.

Fresh Galaxy Note 5 renders published, look fantastic

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Samsung is rumored to be launching the Galaxy Note 5 towards the end of August, trying to get a jump on Apple and its other competitors ahead of the holiday season. If rumors and drawings are to be believed, the 5th-gen Galaxy Note will look like a large version of the Galaxy S6 and might even launch alongside a Galaxy S6 Edge+.

In recent weeks and months we’ve seen a handful of leaked schematics and 3D CAD models for the upcoming phablet. Few, however, come close to the quality in these latest 3D renders published on NWE. If this is the device Samsung plans on launching — and by all accounts that is looking very likely — these are as near official press renders as we’ll get until Samsung actually announces the phablet. Or until someone leaks the official images early.

Along with those posts, NWE posted a more basic image showing a size comparison between the Galaxy S6, Note 5 and S6 Edge+.

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It’s good to see Samsung unifying its product lineup by making them look like each other. Also, I do still hope there’s something at least a little different about the Note. In previous years, Samsung has used different materials to differentiate the Note from the Galaxy S. This year, ignoring the S Pen, there appears to be little unique about its design.

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