Samsung pushes January security patch to the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in China

Samsung seems now to be more committed than ever when it comes to updating its phones with the latest security patches. Just a few days after we reported on the Galaxy J1 mini and Galaxy A7 (2017) January security, the latest report from China suggests that two flagship Galaxy phones are now receiving the January update.

Sammobile reports that the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge units in China are currently receiving an update from Samsung. The update carries the Android security patch for the month of January, it is labeled with the version number G9300ZCU2BQL3 and G9350ZCU2BQL3 for the Galaxy S7 (SM-G9300) and Galaxy S7 edge (SM-G9350) in China, respectively.

The update specifically addresses six critical vulnerabilities in the Android operating system, while also addressing several low, moderate and high-risk vulnerabilities associated with the OS. The update also safeguards users against 13 Vulnerabilities and Exposures (SVE) items identified in Samsung’s custom software, so installing the update should be of utmost importance to all Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge users in China.

The update is available OTA, but might not be immediately available for all eligible device, so you may have to chill a bit, otherwise, you can go to your device Settings > About Device > Software Updates to manually check if the update is available to your device. We advise you ensure your phone has enough battery juice and connected to a Wi-Fi network for a bett

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Samsung Galaxy S9’s Selling Price To Be The Lowest In The World

MWC 2018 will take place later next month in Barcelona. This means the annual flagships of many manufacturers will debut as soon as in February. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are the most anticipated models for many customers, undoubtedly. Earlier we have heard too much about these models. We have seen too many leaked photos. Seems we know about the upcoming flagships … but the pricing. Last year, many manufacturers have had to increase the pricing of their handsets due to the increased purchase cost of components and exchange rate fluctuations. So it’s been assumed the forthcoming Samsung phones will cost more than the original S8/S8+. Fortunately, it’s going to happen the other way around.

Yesterday, Samsung Chinese President Quan Guixian said in an interview that many manufacturers are increasing the prices of their phones in order to provide a user experience. But the Samsung Galaxy S9’s selling price will be the lowest in the world. This simply means their flagships will cost less than the current models. The latter was announced at 5688 yuan ($888). So the S9 should cost around $800.

As for now, the SM-G9600 / DS and SM-G9608 / DS have passed 3C certification. Though no one 

has claimed these are the alleged Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, we are sure both codenames belong to the aforementioned models.

According to all those rumors and spotted documents, the Samsung Galaxy S9 will come with a Snapdragon 845, 5.8-inch screen with a higher aspect ratio, 12MP rear camera, and support a few trendy features such as facial recognition, IP68 waterproof and dustproof rate, and wireless charging. The assumed launch date is March 16.

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Mid-range Samsung Exynos 7872 SoC unveiled

Samsung has announced a new mid-range mobile processor dubbed the Exynos 7872 SoC. The Exynos 7872 SoC is a mild upgrade to the Exynos 7870 SoC, and it is expected to debut first with newly announced Meizu M6s. Overall, Samsung claims the new SoC can deliver a double fold performance on the single core resulting in seamless multitasking, faster web browsing, and app launching.

 Built on a 14nm process with two clustered hexa-core CPU and a Mali-G71 GPU, the new Exynos 7872 SoC comes with support for an LTE Cat. 7 2CA modem (300Mbps down, 150Mbps up) with Wi-Fi 802.11n dual-band (but no ac),  Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo.

Samsung Exynos5 7872 processor specifications:

• CPU – Dual-core Cortex-A73 @ up to 2.0GHz, and Quad-core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6GHz
• GPU – Arm Mali-G71 MP1
• Memory I/F – LPDDR3
• Storage I/F – eMMC 5.1, SD 3.0
• Display – Up to WUXGA (1920×1200)
• LTE Modem – LTE Cat.7 2CA 300Mbps (DL) / Cat.13 2CA 150Mbps (UL)
• Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11n Dual-band, Bluetooth 5, FM Radio
• GNSS –  GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo
• Camera –  Rear 21.7MP, Front 21.7MP
• Video – Full HD 120fps encoding and decoding with HEVC (H.265), H.264 and VP8, and decoding with VP9
• Process – 14nm FinFET Process

Elsewhere, the Exynos 7872  comes with a more advanced ISP (Image Signal Processor) and MFC (Multi-Format Codec) that can take up to the 21.7MP front and rear cameras as well as support for an iris sensor up to 8MP for improved authentication. It is not capable of taking dual-cameras but capable of 1080p video recording at 120fps with HEVC and H.264 codec support. It boasts of display resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 with support for LPDDR3 for RAM, eMMC 5.1 for built-in storage and the SD 3.0 standard for expandable memory.

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Samsung Galaxy On7 Prime with Samsung Mall launched in India

Electronics major Samsung has launched a new smartphone under its exclusive online “On series” in India. The handset dubbed Galaxy On7 Prime was earlier teased through various channels and is now finally official.

 Even though the Galaxy On7 Prime is being marketed as a new device, it’s just a case of old wine in a new bottle. It’s, in fact, the Galaxy On Nxt in disguise. Whatever new Samsung wants to offer is in the software locker of the Galaxy On7. And no, we don’t mean Android Oreo. The Galaxy On7 Prime comes loaded with Samsung Mall and Samsung Pay Mini.

Samsung Mall is an app that allows users to search for products by taking snaps or image recognition via camera. In short, it’s like Bixby Vision but integrated with shopping apps like Amazon, Jabong, Shopclues, and Tata CLiQ.
As for Samsung Pay Mini it’s a watered-down version of Samsung Pay that will enable users to pay on-the-go.

As for the specs, the Galaxy On7 Prime sports a 5.5-inch Full HD screen, and Exynos 7870, and Android Nougat. Both the front and rear of the device feature the same 13MP camera with f/1.9 aperture. A 3,300 mAh battery is in charge of keeping the things working in the handset. If you’re interested in detailed specs, we’ll list a post sheet below.
The Galaxy On7 Prime comes in a 3 gig and 4 gig variant as you can see below. Prices for the two models is Rs 12,990 & 14,990 respectively. It can be bought online exclusively from Amazon starting January 20th.

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Sony Xperia XZ Pro, The Next Flagship Coming With OLED 4K Screen + Snapdragon 845

At CES 2018 we saw many devices unveiled by the South Korean tech giant, Sony. But this is only an appetizer for the upcoming models that are going to be unveiled at the MWC 2018 at the end of next month. This the main conference where the annual flagship of Sony should debut. Today, it became known this handset is going to be called the Sony Xperia XZ Pro. Earlier we have heard Sony is working on an OLED screen smartphone with a 4K resolution. Seems this is the phone we have been talking about. But let’s get acquainted with the rest of features of this amazing smartphone.

 A few days back, Don Mesa, Sony Mobile’s vice president of marketing for North America, gave an interview to Engadget and revealed some important information about the upcoming Sony Xperia XZ Pro premium flagship. Adding the leaks we have seen concerning this phone, we can have a complete picture of its specs list. As Mesa said, Sony is aiming at making more dual-camera handsets in 2018. We have heard the Sony flagship should come with a dual-camera using a 18MP sensor (a single pixel area of 1.33μm) and a 12MP sensor (a single pixel area of 1.38μm). On the front, it will carry a 13MP single camera. This is not surprising at all, because Sony is known for its great camera modules, and of course, it will put the best ones on its phones.

 Apart from this, Mesa said they are working on to bring a full-screen design to their handsets. This doesn’t mean the Sony Xperia XZ Pro will sport a full-screen, undoubtedly. There are more important things rather than a full-screen technology that you can find on myriads of phones. As for Sony, it is more focusing on making the OLED technology better. The XZ Pro is rumored to feature a 5.7-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 4K. Seems nothing prevents it from implementing these plans. So once it happens, the Sony flagship will stand out.

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HTC U11 Oreo update is finally hitting EMEA region

After apologizing for delaying the highly anticipated Oreo updated for their 2017 flagship, HTC is finally bringing the Android 8.0 version for HTC U11 handsets in Europe and the other countries of EMEA.

According to reports, HTC has chosen today to start rolling out the latest Google OS versions to countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The update weighs 1,3GB so extra storage will be necessary before attempting to install the newest Google’s cookie.

Apart from announcing the update, HTC didn’t disclose further details of what is presented in the referred Oreo version. We already know all the extras brought by the software itself, such as Picture-in-Picture mode, Notifications Channels, and Autofill API. But we are curious to see the goods brought by HTC exclusive software.

We strongly believe that the update brings the Google’s December security patch since the January revision have just been released a few days ago, so we don’t expect that HTC has fastly pushed this new patch to the big update in time for a release.

Currently, the update is going out over the air in an incremental form, so it may take a while until it arrives at all eligible devices inside EMEA. If you didn’t receive the update notification now, wait a little longer and it may appear available.

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Huawei Honor 9 Youth Edition Benchmark Results

On December 21, 2017, the leading smartphone maker in China held a new conference and announced a thousand-yuan machine dubbed as the Huawei Honor 9 Youth Edition. The latter comes with the trendiest full-screen of 5.65 inches, its own-made chip in face of the Kirin 659, 3/4GB of RAM, 32/64GB of internal storage, 3000mAh battery, 13+2MP rear camera, Android 8.0 (EMUI 8.0) and so on. As you see, the Honor 9 Lite comes with a decent specs list, but there are too many smartphones coming our way from Chinese manufacturers and sporting identical features. However, when it comes to real performance, most of them fail. To understand whether this model is capable of implementing daily tasks, we are coming with a few benchmark results.

First, the Huawei Honor 9 Youth Edition scores 87.861 points at the newest AnTuTu. This is not a great result, but in comparison to other phones from the same niche, this device performs quite well. Look, the Meizu M6 Note scores 62K, while the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus reaches 63K only.

The phone scores almost identical points at Master Lu benchmark. It shows the Huawei Honor 9 Youth Edition is a classic mid-range smartphone providing a performance similar to the Huawei Honor 7X.

At last, the Honor 9 Lite showcases 906 points at a single-core test, and 3609 points at a multi-core test when testing via Geekbench 4.0. The overall performance is identical to the Snapdragon 625 chip.

Of course, the phone was tested for gaming purposes as well. Three games were played on the Huawei Honor 9 Youth Edition. All of them including Honor of Kings, Wilderness Action, and Chinese CrossFire were played quite smoothly. Though the phone doesn’t support the 60fps mode, 30-40fps rate is quite enough for normal playing.

 So we can say, those who have been worrying about the performance provided by this phone can sit tight. Everything in this phone is well-thought.

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