[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psyNKKKOKgY]

Samsung has posted a video of its new Galaxy S6 and S6 edge smartphones being put through drop-testing. It will come as no surprise, in a manufacturer promo video, to see that both handsets come through unscathed.

To be fair to the S6, though, it did fare well in a recent independent drop test when put up against Apple’s iPhone 6 (video below) … 
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Almost a month after Samsung formally announced its new flagship handsets, the S6 and S6 edge, the company has tweeted that the handsets are available for pre-order in the US. Both models will go on sale on April 10th from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile,  Verizon, and U.S. Cellular … 
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A pupported Sprint promo image for Samsung’s Galaxy S6, set to be revealed on Sunday evening, was posted to a Reddit thread. The main thread link is to a Sprint pre-registration page, but a claimed Sprint employee posted the above image.

The images appear in line with earlier claimed leaks, but it’s of course not uncommon for fake images to be based on earlier ones. As Gizmodo notes, there is also inconsistent use of upper/lower case for ‘Edge’ in the image, suggesting it should be viewed with some caution … 
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In T-Moble’s new “Six Appeal” microsite, they throw out the above image which plainly shows the Galaxy S 6 profile with its curved display beaming out some magenta. March 1st is the day of announcement but something tells me we’ll hear more before then.

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Bloomberg is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be released in two versions, one of them with a wraparound screen similar to the Note Edge but curving around both left and right sides of the display.

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to release two new versions of its top-tier Galaxy smartphone next month, including a model with a display covering three sides, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter […] The second model to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Spain will only have a front-facing display.

Earlier claimed renders had also suggested a curved screen, though with some confusion about whether the wraparound would be on only one side, like the Edge, or both sides as now claimed by Bloomberg … 
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Recently, Samsung sent out invitations to its Unpacked 2015 event during MWC 2015 in Barcelona, Spain, and we’ll be there to bring you coverage on all of the flagship smartphones announced. Samsung is expected to launch its Galaxy S6 along with a couple of other goodies, but what can you expect? Well today, we’re talking about all things Galaxy S6 and going over the anticipated specifications, hardware, design, and features…

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Samsung’s Galaxy A7 hasn’t exactly been a well-kept secret, with the first rumors starting in September of last year, followed by regulatory filings, but the device is now official – albeit with some details still not announced.

Samsung introduced the Galaxy A7, one of the slimmest Galaxy smartphones equipped with premium hardware for a superior social experience, expanding on the popular services provided by the Galaxy A5 and A3.

Topping out the mid-range A-series, the A7 has a 5.5-inch AMOLED display, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, a 13MP main camera and – in line with Samsung’s focus on social media – a 5MP front-facing camera for hi-res selfies (including voice-activated ones). It’s available in single- and dual-SIM models, the former getting a quad-core Exynos processor, while the latter gets an octa-core version …

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Samsung’s sleek mid-ranged Galaxy A3 and A5 handsets appear set for a European launch, as SamMobile spotted firmware for a range of European countries. The handsets have so far only been available in a handful of Asian countries … 
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The Galaxy Alpha – first announced in August – may turn out to be a short-lived model: rumors originating in Korea claim that the company plans to discontinue the model in favor of the Galaxy A5 as soon as current inventory is exhausted.

It was reported last month that Samsung planned to sell 30% fewer smartphones next year, as part of cost-cutting measures in response to declining profits … 
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pPIG3EvAs]

One of my favorite Youtubers (along with Dom and Detroit Borg), @MKBHD did his year end Smartphone of the year roundup and can say I agree with almost every choice he made here. Almost.

Some small gripes however: He didn’t ding Samsung enough for its overlay in the ‘Big Phone’ category (IMO), I might have given LG more props for their camera and One Plus One shouldn’t have beat the Moto G 2014 as best budget. You can get 2 Moto Gs for the price of a One Plus – if you can even find one! That’s not to say the OnePlus isn’t a great budget phone and running Cyanogen mod almost makes it more of a game changer than the Sharp Aquos Crystal.

One other thing: I’m OK with the HTC One M8 as phone of the year as long as it is the GPE. Otherwise Moto X gets the nod

Like I said, I’m almost completely in agreement!

Spoilers below:

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The downsizing expected at Samsung‘s mobile division has seemingly started at the top, with Re/code reporting that three senior execs are leaving the company. This follows the loss of five high-ranking execs earlier in the year.

Three deputies to the head of Samsung Electronics’ mobile division are leaving, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, as the world’s largest smartphone maker faces a rapid decline in profit […]

The departures included global marketing chief D.J. Lee, the source said, confirming earlier media reports.

All three of those leaving are said to be direct reports to mobile head JK Shin, who survived the cull despite presiding over a 74% drop in profits in his division … 
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Qualcomm is experiencing problems with its upcoming Snapdragon 810 chip, expected to power several of next year’s flagship smartphones – potentially delaying their launch. The high-powered chip is expected to be used in the Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4 and Sony Xperia Z4, and has also been slated for a new Motorola phablet.

Business Korea cites an unnamed industry source in reporting that testing of the chip has revealed several issues.

The Snapdragon 810 overheats when it reaches a specific voltage. It also slows down owing to problems with the RAM controller connected to the AP. In addition, there is an error in the driver of the Adreno 430 GPU.

The 810 is a 64-bit octa-core chip supporting 4K displays, and hence a likely bet for the next generation of top-tier phones … 
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When Google released its Android distribution numbers for December earlier this week, Lollipop was notably missing from the chart as it had not gained enough of the market to appear. In a move that will slowly start to get Lollipop onto more devices, however, Samsung this evening has started to rollout its Lollipop update to the Galaxy S5. At this point, though, the update is only rolling out to the Poland Galaxy S5 variant (via SamMobile).

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The Samsung Galaxy A7, which made its way through the FCC last week, has been revealed by a Chinese regulatory filing to be Samsung’s thinnest ever Galaxy smartphone, at just 6.3mm thick. To put that into perspective, the company’s flagship Galaxy S5 is 8.1mm thick … 
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While we knew last month that sales of the Samsung Galaxy S5 were down, the WSJ believes it has specific numbers.

In all, Samsung sold about 40% fewer Galaxy S5 smartphones than expected, with about 12 million units sold to consumers in the first three months since April compared with about 16 million units for the preceding flagship phone, the Galaxy S4, according to people familiar with the matter.

Samsung is said to be considering a major leadership shake-up in response to the numbers … 
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