Apple

WSJ: Samsung working on Bixby powered smart speaker

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2017

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Samsung has been developing a wireless speaker powered by its Bixby personal assistant to take on the rival Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple HomePod devices.

Internally code-named “Vega”, the project has been in development for more than a year.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the report states that the release timing is far from determined because the device's feature set and other specifications are yet to be decided, much less a release date.

The development is said to have been held back by the progress of Bixby itself, which already forced the South Korean firm to launch Galaxy S8 without proper support for English voice commands which rolled out in preview form last month.

According to the report, Samsung sees the full release of Bixby voice support as “unlikely before the second half of July.”

Samsung to build world’s biggest OLED display manufacturing plant

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2017

Samsung is planning to build the world's biggest OLED display manufacturing plant that could kick off volume production in 2019, with a peak yield of between 180,000 and 270,000 OLED display panels per month, according to industry sources.

By comparison, the company's existing “A2” factory currently produces 180,000 units of rigid and flexible OLEDs per month.

Samsung Display, the South Korean conglomerate's display-making arm, will invest more than $1.75 billion just to construct the new plant. The report is relevant to our readers because Samsung Display is believed to be an exclusive provider of OLED panels for iPhone 8.

When operational, the company's new OLED factory, tentatively named “A5”, should have 30 percent higher production capacity than Samsung current biggest factory called “A3”, according to Korean outlet ETNews.

The site added that Samsung began expanding capacity of its upcoming “A3” factory during the second half of 2015 in order to meet Apple's order for a large amount of OLED panels.

According to the report, Samsung Display has secured production capacity of 135,000 OLED panels per month over the next two years, primarily to serve the needs of its two biggest clients: Apple and Samsung Electronics.

iPhone 8 Full Vision Display concept courtesy of iFanr.

Samsung working on dual-camera Note 8, launch event planned for August

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 20, 2017

Intent on continuing the premium Note brand, Samsung is working on an eighth-generation Note with a dual-lens camera on the back, like iPhone 7 Plus, and a larger screen. The upcoming phone should be formally announced at a media event in New York City in August, Reuters reported today.

Sources familiar with the matter have described the next Note as being “marginally larger” than the 6.2-inch version of Samsung's Galaxy S8 smartphone.

The Note 8 event should be held in the second half of August, ahead of Apple's presumed iPhone 8 event the following month. Last year, Samsung held the Note 7 event a bit earlier than usual in an effort to divert attention from Apple's iPhone 7 announcement.

Watchers have speculated that Samsung, in its desire to beat Apple, made the decision to launch Note 7 earlier than usual. But the South Korean conglomerate shot itself in the foot because the issues with the device's battery have gone unnoticed with its quality assurance teams, which were not given enough time to properly test the device.

Is reviving the ill-fated Note brand a wise move on Samsun's part? Let us know your thoughts by posting a comment below.

Despite rear fingerprint sensor, Consumer Reports ranks Galaxy S8 higher than iPhone 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 14, 2017

Influential US magazine Consumer Reports today published their latest smartphone rankings. After weeks of “rigorous testing”, the organization has ranked Samsung's new Galaxy S8 Plus, which released in late April, higher than Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus devices, which have been on the market for eight months now.

The testing procedure took into account popular user features such as design, battery life, cameras, display quality and more. The top spot was previously occupied by the earlier-generation Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge.

As for Apple's smartphone, Consumer Reports ranked iPhone 7 Plus fifth.

Here are the top five smartphones, according to Consumer Reports:

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge LG G6 Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Despite the latest Galaxies not having a dual-camera setup, Consumer Reports doesn't think consumers will miss the depth of field photography and optical zoom features found on iPhone 7 Plus.

“A few top-end cameras, including the iPhone 7 Plus and the LG G6, have dual rear-facing cameras, to enhance either zoom or wide-angle photography,” notes the report.

“The Samsung phones haven’t gone that route yet—and we don’t think they suffer for it.”

The latest Galaxy phones have “some of the best smartphone battery life we've seen,” they added.

Consumer Reports testers found the latest Galaxies' curved AMOLED display with the drastically reduced bezels at the top and the bottom both pretty to look at and functional, with a bigger screen area in the same-size device.

That doesn't necessarily make the flagship Samsung phone comfortable to hold in one's hand.

“Even on the smaller model, it will be hard for most users to reach the upper regions of the screen with their thumb,” said lead phone tester Richard Fisco.

Consumer Reports' biggest gripe with the new Galaxy S8 family? An “awkwardly” positioned fingerprint sensor on the back.

Here's what they had to say about it:

The fingerprint scanner on the back is awkwardly placed. You can use the scanner for unlocking the phone, and that works well. But it's right next to the rear camera, and we found ourselves repeatedly poking around to locate it—and smudging the camera lens in the process.

Consumer Reports is, of course, the same publication that lost some of its credibility by first not recommending iPhone 4 due to Antennagate only to change its mind a few weeks later. The fact they're now pitting the latest devices from Samsung and LG against Apple's 2016 smartphone—which will be superseded by iPhone 8 in a three month's time—isn't helping either.

Samsung predicted to beat Intel, become #1 chip vendor this summer

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 12, 2017

Samsung's chip-making unit has been making some great strides in the past few years and now the South Korean chaebol is predicted to overtake Intel and become the world's top producer of computer chips. Should the prediction come true, this will be a major blow to Intel, which has been the leading chip maker in terms of sales for 26 years since 1991.

According to researchers with NH Investment & Securities, cited in a report by The Korea Herald, Samsung could overtake Intel as soon as this summer due to the rise in number of data centers and expanded demand of solid state drives.

Intel captured an estimated thirteen percent of global chip sales in the first quarter of 2016 versus Samsung's 9.1 percent share. But during the March quarter of 2017, Intel took up 14.7 percent while Samsung held a comparable figure of 13.4 percent.

“Starting the March-June period, Samsung's global market share of chips will surpass the 15-percent mark to outpace its rival, helped by its improved competitiveness in the memory segment,” the report added.

Apple no longer uses Samsung's chip fabrication plants to build its in-house designed processors for iOS devices, but iPhones and iPads still use Samsung-built flash memory modules and the iPhone 7's LTE modem is being dual-sourced from Intel and Samsung.

Video: tricking Galaxy S8’s iris scanner into unlocking the phone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 24, 2017

Eyeballs and faces are not as secure as fingerprints—German hackers with the Chaos Computer Club have bypassed iris authentication technology that's prominently featured in Samsung's Galaxy S8 smartphone. All that's needed to trick Galaxy S8's iris scanner into unlock the phone is an infrared photograph of the eye of the phone’s owner and a contact lens.

ArsTechnica says the photo need not even be a close up.

This video below, originally posted by Starbug (the moniker used by one of the principal researchers behind the hack), demonstrates how to circumvent the iris recognition of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone—such as a basic digital camera, Samsung's laser printer and a contact lens—by using equipment that costs less than the $725 price of an unlocked device.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccQZs8Ofpuk

An attacker must posses a photograph of the phone owner's face, which must be printed out to place the contact lens on the iris in the printout. Holding the image in front of a locked Galaxy S8 fools the iris scanner into unlocking the device.

Princeton Identity, the makers of Galaxy S8's iris authentication technology, say the phone provides “airtight security” and that consumers can “finally trust that their phones are protected”. Samsung itself claimed that Galaxy S8's iris scanning mechanism is “one of the safest ways to keep your phone locked.”

That said, we've known that bypassing the phone's biometrics is laughably easy.

In March, iDevice posted a video proving that Galaxy S8's facial recognition feature can be fooled into unlocking the phone by scanning a simple headshot of the phone's owner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXd26Nqg5tQ

According to The Korea Herald, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus handsets can even be unlocked by scanning the face of a sleeping person. Samsung is aware that Galaxy S8's facial unlocking technology is not its most secure biometric system: in a March statement to Mashable, a company spokesperson said that facial unlocking cannot be used for purchases with Samsung Pay.

For that, you still must use the phone's fingerprint reader as the iris scanner can only be used to purchase apps and media or unlock the phone. Galaxy S8 includes both iris scanning and facial recognition via the front-facing camera, in addition to fingerprint scanning via a sensor relocated to the rear side.

Apple's own Touch ID fingerprint reader isn't immune to hacks either.

Back in 2013, Starbug demonstrated that fingerprints casually collected off of water glasses can be leveraged to fool Touch ID into unlocking your iPhone. Android phones are susceptible to a similar hack.

As you know, Apple is expected to use facial unlocking and maybe even iris scanning in iPhone 8. Starbug, however, cautions that future smartphones with iris recognition may be equally easy to hack. Iris recognition, says Starbug, is hard to make hack-proof because you can't really hide your iris.

“It's even worse than fingerprints,” added the hacker.

Samsung reportedly signs new deal for OLED panel production for iPhone 9

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 23, 2017

The Korea Herald is reporting today that Samsung Display, the display-making unit of Samsung Electronics, recently signed yet another deal to build OLED panels for future iPhones. With up to 180 million screens demanded by the iPhone maker, this deal indicates that Apple is laying the groundwork for a much wider adoption of OLED panels in future iPhones.

The new deal is focused on supplying OLED panels for the new iPhone next year, tentatively called “iPhone 9”. To build OLEDs in 5.28 and 6.46-inch sizes, the conglomerate will break ground on a new factory in the South Chungcheong Province in South Korea.

The mentioned 6.46-inch size may point to a future iOS device, potentially due in 2018.

“The two companies have recently signed a non-disclosure agreement on general conditions, including the screen size,” said a source. “Other details such as screen design and functions could be adjusted considering the phone is still under development.”

Samsung Display is already supplying 80 million OLED screens for iPhone 8 this year. iPhone 8 is said to feature a 5.8-inch OLED screen with an active display area of 5.1 inches.

Image: CNC-machined iPhone 8 dummy via Benjamin Geskin

Samsung’s Q1 results: mobile business declines, worries about iPhone 8, Note 8 coming

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 27, 2017

Samsung Electronics on Thursday posted financial results for the first calendar quarter ended March 31, 2017. While the South Korean conglomerate increased both revenue and profit from the year-ago quarter, the growth is attributed mainly to Samsung's lucrative components business as its mobile segment actually shrank year-over-year.

The firm appears worried about Apple's upcoming iPhone 8, cautioning that its mobile unit could suffer as “market competition is expected to intensify” in the second half of 2017.

Samsung likely to set up 7G flexible OLED factory

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Samsung's display-making arm is likely to set up a seventh-generation manufacturing plant in South Korea solely dedicated to flexible OLED panel production, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes reported this morning citing UBI Research. Samsung Display produces more than 90 percent of all OLED panels for smartphones and tablets. The company is expected to churn out OLED panels for iPhone 8 on an exclusive basis until rivals Sharp, LG Display and Japan Display join the mix in 2018 and 2019.

Watch latest Samsung ads emphasizing Galaxy S8’s bezel-less Infinity Display and design

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2017

Ahead of the upcoming April 21 Galaxy S8 launch in the United States, Canada and Europe, Samsung has already covered Times Square with advertising for its new flagship phones. Today, the South Korean conglomerate published a pair of official Galaxy S8 television commercials on its YouTube channel.

Titled "The New Normal" and “Breaking Out”, the videos showcase the key features of the handsets, like their curved AMOLED screen, branded as Infinity Display, and a stunning industrial design with a nearly full-screen face and no chin at the bottom.

Apple reportedly signs 2-year supply contract with Samsung for curved OLED panels

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 13, 2017

A report in ETNews, cited by DigiTimes, claims that Apple recently negotiated a major two-year supply deal with Samsung Display, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, regarding curved OLED panels for future iPhones. Samsung's display-making arm produces more than 90 percent of all OLED panels for smartphones and tablets.

Battery showdown: Galaxy S8+ vs. iPhone 7 Plus

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2017

Samsung's top-of-the-line Galaxy handsets are typically outfitted with some of the best-performing batteries. That said, you could imagine our surprise when we learned that the battery in Samsung's flagship Galaxy S8+ performed worse than the cell powering Apple's iPhone 7 Plus, as per a new test carried out by review website PhoneArena.