Samsung may unveil Galaxy S9 early in challenge to iPhone X

MANILA - Samsung Electronics will move up the unveiling of its Galaxy S9 and S9+ phones in 2018 compared to previous years, presenting a new challenger to chief rival Apple's iPhone X, according to two reports.

The S9 and S9+ will look nearly identical to this year's S8 and S8+, the first Samsung phones to sport near bezel-less displays, but with improved cameras and processors, according to Bloomberg and Venutre Beat.

The S9 line will be unveiled by late February, one month earlier that its predecessor's launch in 2017, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. Venture Beat said the phones would be presented at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January with an official launch to follow in March.


The screen sizes will stay at 6.2 inches for the S9+ and 5.8 inches for the S9. The larger model will pack a dual lens rear camera, similar to the one on the Galaxy Note 8 which launched last September, according to the reports.

The fingerprint sensor will be positioned below the rear camera lens, according to Venture beat. It was located to the right of the lenses in the S8 and Note 8 lines, making it hard to reach for some and leaving the camera prone to smudging.

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Samsung's record earnings see it overtake Apple

SEOUL - South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted record-breaking earnings Thursday, putting it on course to better rival Apple's quarterly profits as it seeks to move past a bribery scandal and a damaging recall debacle.

The firm said huge sales of its new Galaxy S8 smartphone and demand for its memory chips were behind the jump in April-June and predicted another blockbuster report for the current quarter to September.

It said operating profit soared a forecast-beating 72.9 percent from the previous year to 14.07 trillion won ($12.6 billion), compared with consensus forecasts of $10.6 billion for US titan Apple, which is due to report next week.

However, Greg Roh, an analyst at HMC Investment Securities, told AFP: "Samsung has surpassed its rivals for now but Apple usually sees little fluctuation in its profits whereas Samsung's profits fluctuate largely on memory chip prices." Apple is expected to outstrip Samsung in full-year results.

The world's top maker of smartphones and memory chips also said net profit surged almost 90 percent to 11.05 trillion won, its best quarterly result in five years.

Samsung shares ended down 0.08 percent in Seoul.

"The S8 has indeed helped get Samsung back onto its feet, hopefully putting the Note7 debacle behind it," Bryan Ma, a technology industry analyst at IDC, said before the announcement.

"But we also have to keep in mind that a lot of Samsung’s momentum is from memory and displays too, so it’s not all about the S8, either," he said, according to Bloomberg News.

REPUTATION

Samsung has been trying to overcome an embarrassing recall last year of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone over exploding batteries, which cost it billions of dollars and dealt a blow to its reputation.

It has also been buffeted by a scandal that has seen vice-chairman and heir Lee Jae-Yong charged in connection with the sprawling corruption scandal that brought down South Korean president Park Geun-Hye.

The semiconductor business raked in 8.03 trillion won in operating profit in the second quarter, up 204 percent from the previous year. Samsung provides its chips to other companies including Apple.

"The components businesses drove significant earnings growth... thanks primarily to strong memory demand for high-density DRAMs and SSDs for servers," the company said.

This month the firm said it will invest 20.4 trillion won by 2021 to expand and upgrade its chip plants in the South Korean cities of Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong.

The factory in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometres (44 miles) south of Seoul, is the world's biggest and has recently started production after the firm spent 15.6 trillion won in two years to build it.

Samsung also plans to expand its NAND chip plant in the Chinese city of Xian to meet booming demand for the chips used in high-end storage products, it said.

With demand for Samsung's memory chips forecast to continue until next year, analyst Roh said: "Samsung is expected to post another record profit in the third quarter at around 15 trillion won."

SHOCKWAVES

Peter Lee, an analyst at NH Investment Securities, said the biggest variable of Samsung's earnings for the latter half of the year will be the launch of Apple's new iPhone.

"The increase in sales of iPhones will weaken profit in the mobile business but Samsung will supply more semiconductors and display panels to Apple and improve profit in the components part," he added.

Samsung is set to unveil its new Note device next month in New York, just over a year after the exploding battery crisis that saw it remove the Note 7 from shelves.

Lee is being held in custody accused of bribing the now-disgraced Park and her secret confidante with millions of dollars in a bid to seek government favors.

He has effectively been at the helm of the group since his father suffered a heart attack in 2014.

The indictment in February sent shockwaves through the firm and triggered the announcement of a major reform of its top-down management style.

The scandal has cast renewed light on the cosy ties traditionally enjoyed by the government and the family-controlled conglomerates known as "chaebols" that dominate the economy.

A court is due to give its verdict on Lee by the end of next month.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Samsung to update Galaxy S8 after 'red screen' complaints

SEOUL - Electronics giant Samsung will this week offer an unusually early software update for its newly-released Galaxy S8 phone, it said Monday after some consumers complained of red-tinted screens.

The launch of the device is a key step for the South Korean tech firm as it seeks to move on from last year's humiliating withdrawal of the Galaxy Note 7 over exploding batteries, which hammered the firm's once-stellar reputation.

The Galaxy S8 started over-the-counter sales in the US and its home market but South Korean users who pre-ordered the phones complained their screens displayed an unusually reddish hue.

Online images of their phones went viral on social media but Samsung denied a hardware flaw and maintained that users could manually adjust the colour range according to their preferences.

As more users voiced doubts, Samsung said Monday that a software update would fix the problem by allowing them to readjust colours over a wider range than at present.

"Samsung... has decided to release a software update starting from this week which will provide consumers with a further enhanced ability to adjust the colour setting to their preference," it said in a statement.

Samsung -- the world's largest maker of smartphones -- has pinned its hopes on the Galaxy S8 to compete against archrival Apple's iPhone after last year's Note 7 disaster.

The recall debacle cost Samsung billions of dollars in lost profits and hammered its global credibility, forcing it to apologize to consumers and postpone the S8 launch.

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Samsung faces 'biggest test' with Galaxy S8 launch

SEOUL - The world's biggest smartphone maker Samsung will unveil its latest flagship, the Galaxy S8, on Wednesday in New York as it seeks to move on from last year's humiliating recall crisis.

Samsung Electronics was forced to discontinue the Galaxy Note 7, originally intended to compete with Apple's iPhone, after a chaotic recall that saw replacement devices also catching fire.

The debacle cost the South Korean company billions in lost profit and hammered its global reputation and credibility, during a torrid period when it has also been embroiled in a corruption scandal.

Its vice-chairman Lee Jae-Yong, heir to the parent Samsung group, has since been arrested and indicted for bribery, along with four other senior executives, in connection with the graft scandal that saw ex-president Park Geun-Hye impeached.

Samsung blamed the Galaxy Note 7 crisis on faulty batteries, apologized to consumers for causing concern and was forced to postpone the S8 launch.

 The Verge, a US-based online news network specialising on technology, described the new device as Samsung's "biggest test ever".

"It now needs to reassert its reliability while also rebooting its technological advantage," it said.

On its website, Samsung says the latest addition to the Galaxy lineup represents "the start of a new era", but has offered little information about its new hardware features.

Some leaked images of the new phone suggest the Galaxy S8 will sport a larger curved display than its predecessor the S7, at 5.8 inches, while maintaining a similar body size.

The home button on the front of the phone appears to have been replaced by a fingerprint scanner on the rear, while it is also speculated to have an iris scanner, most likely used for unlocking the handset and authorising payments.

Samsung announced last week that its new voice-powered digital assistant Bixby will debut with the phone, which will have a set of pre-installed applications that will work with the interface.

The South Korean electronics giant late last year bought Viv, an artificial intelligence startup with co-founders who were part of the team that built virtual assistant Siri, which Apple bought some seven years ago.

While Samsung has yet to confirm a release date and pricing, the Galaxy S8 is expected to be available in late April with a price range of around $900 to $1,000.

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Face recognition for payments coming to Samsung Galaxy S8: report

MANILA - Samsung users will soon be able to verify mobile payments by looking at their smartphones as the the company is planning to include facial recognition technology in its upcoming Galaxy S8 handset, according to a news report.

Face recognition for mobile payments will be a first for smartphones and the Galaxy S8 will also come with fingerprint and iris scanners for added security, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources.

The South Korean company is building Samsung Pay to challenge rival Apple Inc's Apple Pay, which is available on the iPhone and Apple Watch.

The Galaxy S8 is expected to be launched in late March. Leaks suggest that its headline feature will be a screen that wraps around the sides and occupies almost the entire front of the handset.

It will the Samsung's first premium handset since its recall of the Galaxy Note 7 late last year, after some units caught fire. The company blamed the fires on faulty batteries.

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Samsung's Galaxy S8 teased in more leaks ahead of launch

I think this is what you've been waiting for. pic.twitter.com/FvYfsLOy0R

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) March 1, 2017


MANILA - Alleged renders and pictures of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S8 have leaked, providing a glimpse at the South Korean giant's attempt to recover from the recall of its Note 7 handsets last year.

Following the lead of rivals LG and Xiaomi, the eighth iteration of Samsung's flagship will feature a screen that occupies almost the entire front face of the phone.

The curved display, which wraps around the sides of the device, will come in two sizes, 5.8 inches for the regular model and 6.2 inches for the larger "plus" model.

Venture Beat writer Evan Blas, who has a track record for accurate leaks, posted a computed render of the device on his Twitter page.

Tech website BGR posted a photo of what it claims to be a working S8 handset.

The S8 has ditched physical keys in favor of on-screen buttons to make way for the large screen. The fingerprint sensor was moved to the back, beside the camera lens, according to BGR.


 Samsung is scheduled to announce the S8 on March 21 and the handset is expected to launch on April 21

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