Galaxy Note

Note 7 is dead: Samsung permanently ceases production of its troubled flagship phone

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

After temporarily halting production of its troubled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone earlier this week, Samsung confirmed in today's statement to TechCrunch that it's permanently discontinued the production of its flagship Galaxy smartphone over multiple incidents of exploding batteries.

This past weekend, major U.S. carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint stopped offering new units as replacements for those affected by Samsung's global recall. U.S. carriers are now offering Note 7 customers replacement devices from other brands, including Apple's latest iPhone.

1 million Note 7 recalled so far, but Samsung has another exploding problem on its hands

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2016

Following an unprecedented global recall of at least 2.5 million Note 7 smartphones due to faulty batteries causing some of the units to catch fire, Samsung today told Reuters that more than one million people worldwide are now using Galaxy Note 7 smartphones with batteries that are not vulnerable to overheating and catching fire. However, the firm has another problem on its hands: exploding washing machines. It's certainly been a rough month for Samsung.

Yesterday, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission warned owners of certain top-loading Samsung washing machines of “safety issues” following reports that some have exploded.

Samsung issues global Note 7 recall after complaints of exploding batteries

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2016

It looked like Samsung was well poised to steal some of Apple's thunder by releasing its Note 7 phablet with a redesigned appearance and wraparound screen ahead of Apple's iPhone 7 event. But following reports from users around the world about a battery issue that has caused some handsets to catch fire or explode, Samsung has now announced plans to recall every single Note 7 sold in order to prevent further damage and has also abandoned today's scheduled Note 7 launch in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

Samsung to unveil Galaxy Note 7 on August 2nd

Cody Lee ∙ July 13, 2016

Samsung has announced that it will be unveiling the next version of its Galaxy Note handset on August 2nd. The company sent out a press release on Tuesday, saying that it will be hosting an Unpacked event in New York, scheduled to begin at 11 am (EDT).

WSJ: Samsung moving up Galaxy Note 5 launch to August to beat iPhone hype

Cody Lee ∙ July 10, 2015

Samsung is moving up its Galaxy Note 5 launch to August this year in hopes of beating the new iPhone hype in September, reports The Wall Street Journal. Until now, the South Korean company has leveraged the annual IFA Berlin conference to debut the big-screened handset.

Citing a source familiar with the matter, The Journal says the move is part of a bid to give the Note some breathing room before mid-September, when Apple typically unveils its new iPhones—a product that often dominates both the news cycle and consumer attention for weeks.

Samsung faces grim Q3: Mobile business drops by 60%

Jake Smith ∙ October 29, 2014

The situation for Samsung is a tad grim, as the South Korea-based company reported a 74 percent year-over-year decline in net profit during Q3. This marks Samsung's fourth consecutive quarterly decline, and marks its lowest profit margin since the second quarter of 2011.

New Samsung ad calls iPhone 6 Plus a Galaxy Note imitation

Cody Lee ∙ September 14, 2014

Samsung began airing a new TV spot this weekend for the Galaxy Note 4—its new flagship handset that begins shipping next month. Like most of the company's recent ads, this one goes after Apple, with a specific focus on its just-announced iPhone 6 Plus.

Titled "Then and Now," the commercial points out that while Apple prepares to begin selling its first handset with a display over 5 inches, Samsung has been doing it for years with its Galaxy Note line. It essentially calls the iPhone 6 Plus a Note imitation.

Samsung uses Steve Jobs quote against Apple: ‘no one is going to buy a big phone’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 10, 2017

Always eager to respond to Apple's latest moves swiftly and boldly, Samsung of South Korea took to Twitter following yesterday's iPhone 6/Apple Watch/Apple Pay press conference to share an interesting banner which uses Steve Jobs's own words as a weapon against Apple to dismiss its decision to make bigger iPhones as long overdue.

“No one is going to buy a big phone,” reads the quote on Samsung's snarky anti-iPhone Galaxy Note 4 banner. “Guess who surprised themselves and changed their mind,” another line reads.

The attached image is accompanied by the following message on Twitter: “Big improvements and innovation come with change - even they thought so”.

Samsung to unveil Galaxy Note 4 and other new gizmos at September 3 ‘Unpacked’ event

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple's arch-rival Samsung just made it known it'll be holding a major media event on Wednesday, September 3, 2014. The invites for the new 'Unpacked' event, something of an annual tradition for the South Korean conglomerate, have now gone out to select members of the press, hinting at a possible unveiling of the Note 4 phablet.

Although the Galaxy S5 smartphone is already there, the firm is rumored to be also unveiling a premium all-metal edition of the smartphone to help improve its market standing in the wake of the expected massive iPhone 6 launch, which is also expected to be unveiled at a media event some time in September...

Samsung takes aim at iPad mini with new Galaxy Note 8.0

Cody Lee ∙ February 24, 2013

It looks like the rumors were true. Samsung sent out a press release last night announcing the launch of its new Galaxy Note 8.0. The 8-inch tablet is clearly aimed right at the iPad mini, which has done very well thus far for Apple.

And it certainly came prepared to play. As expected, the slate features a 1280×800 (720p) display—just a hair better than the mini—a quad core processor, 2GB of RAM, and oh yeah, it makes phone calls. More details after the break...

Samsung doubles down on the stylus, goes into bed with Wacom

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

And just like that, Samsung of South Korea buys a five percent stake of the stylus maker Wacom in a transaction valued at $58.2 million. Samsung of course is riding high on the popularity of its pen-based Note devices and Wacom suggests that Samsung with this acquisition is aiming to incorporate its stylus tech into Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Note that Wacom also makes digital pen accessories for iPads and Mac-compatible digital tablets that are popular with professional designers and illustrators. I'm holding my breath for an Apple-made stylus because pen-based mobile devices are gaining traction, in spit of Steve Jobs disdain for the stylus...

Samsung’s iPad mini contender caught naked in the wild

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 24, 2013

As expected, Apple's $329 iPad mini has taken off in a big way and is now arguably the company's best-selling iPad. Apple experienced supply constraints of the device throughout the holiday quarter and it immediately sold out upon its arrival to China last week. Cook in a conference call following earnings report attributed the 22 percent year-over-year iPad growth to strong sales of the lower-margin tablet.

Samsung, on the other hand, has been swarming the market with mobile devices of all shapes and sizes. The strategy has earned the South Korean company a distant #2 spot in tablet sales as it tries to keep pace with Apple. The firm is apparently working on an eight-inch Note device designed to challenge the iPad mini and now an image has leaked revealing a sleek form factor encased in a plastic enclosure...