Giving credence to prior rumors surrounding Samsung's next-generation Galaxy flagship smartphone, The Wall Street Journal on Monday said that the Galaxy S7 will launch in March of next year outfitted with a pressure-sensing screen akin to Apple's 3D Touch technology on the iPhone 6s.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the publication claims the Galaxy maker is also considering adding a retina scanner “to some versions of the flagship device,” though that feature could change.
Samsung is reportedly working on its very first iOS app, called Gear Manager, that will permit iPhone, iPod touch and iPad owners to use the South Korean firm's latest Gear S2 lineup of smartwatches, SamMobile learned from its sources last week.
While the Gear S2 works with all Android smartphones, not just the ones made by Samsung, it doesn't play well with iOS. Like Apple's own Watch companion app, the Gear Manager is said to include features to set up and customize the device for use.
The long-standing Apple vs. Samsung patent dispute has been dragging on for five years now without any meaningful resolution in sight, despite Samsung announcing a settlement payment of $548 million to the iPhone maker today.
According to patent blog FOSS Patents, even though the Galaxy maker will send the payment to Apple by December 14 it's found a loophole that would give it the right to seek reimbursement of all amounts required to be paid as taxes, and then some more.
Samsung, which uses AMOLED screens in many of its flagship smartphones and tablets, could become a major provider of OLED panels for the iPhone maker as a deal is all but secured, according to an ETNews report Friday citing a Samsung Display employee.
The report arrives hot on the heels of a research note that KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo sent to clients earlier this week, in which he estimated that Apple won’t be switching to AMOLED screens for iPhones anytime soon and will continue using the existing LCD display technology for at least the next three years.
Not to be outdone by Apple's $799 iPad Pro, which has an ultra high-resolution screen measuring 12.9 inches diagonally and goes on sale next month, rival Samsung is gearing up to launch a brand new tablet with a huge 18.4-inch screen, the Galaxy View.
Although the View is yet to officially launch, some online retailers are now taking pre-orders for the $599 Android device, 9to5Google reported Monday.
For the first time ever, Apple has dual-sourced the engine that drives the new handsets from more than one supplier. Both Samsung and rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) won contracts to build the Apple-designed 'A9' system-on-a-chip for the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
While these chips offer literally the same compute and graphics power, both synthetic benchmarks and real-life tests have shown small yet notable difference in terms of battery as the TSCM-built A9 appears to be more power efficient than its Samsung counterpart.
The question is, does your brand spanking new iPhone 6s have the TSMC or Samsung-built chip? You can find that out in just a few simple steps, let me show you how.
Does your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus come outfitted with Samsung or TSMC-built A9 processor? The answer to that question could determine how long your device will run before its battery needs recharging.
Your key takeaway is this: while the dual-sourced chips perform identically in synthetic Geekbench tests in terms of sheer CPU compute power and GPU performance, there's a marked difference in observed battery life ranging from six to eleven percent.
You could argue the difference is barely felt in day-to-day use, but I beg to differ: energy efficiency is paramount for mobile devices and the battery-friendlier the main processor is, the longer it will run on a single charge.
You've probably heard that Apple is using A9 processors from two different sources for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. One processor is from Samsung, and the other is from TSMC.
It's been confirmed via benchmarks that both processors perform similarly with no major differences in performance. With that said, each processor features a different die size, which was first noted by Chipworks. The Samsung processor is the smaller of the two. Physically, it's 96mm squared, while the TSMC A9 is 104.5 mm squared.
Chipworks conjectures that two different sources were used due to supply constraints. They also say that they are further researching both processors in an effort to gain better clarity.
Ultimately, it really doesn't mean much to the end user, but I know that curiosity gets the best of us at times. If you'd like to check to see who sourced your A9 processor, you can follow these simple steps.
An initial analysis of the Apple-designed A9 system-on-a-chip powering the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, conducted by semiconductor experts over at Chipworks, has identified both Samsung and rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company as manufacturers of the package.
What's really interesting is that the A9 comes in two sizes, depending on who manufactured it, with the Samsung-built units being a bit smaller than those manufactured by TSMC. This is the first time an Apple-designed processor for an iPhone came in two different sizes.
As major U.S. carriers have been moving toward killing smartphone subsidy and long-term contracts, the true cost of the iPhone will become more visible than ever before.
That's why Apple's decided to let you choose a carrier and get an unlocked iPhone 6s/6s Plus with the opportunity to get a new iPhone annually and AppleCare+ on the new iPhone Upgrade Program.
Not to be outdone by Apple, Galaxy maker Samsung is now looking to bring out a smartphone leasing program of its own in the United States, reports Forbes.
Say what you will, but there's no denying that Samsung's marketing department has more or less successfully exploited the iPhone's perceived weaknesses in their anti-Apple ads.
As you know, ads for the Galaxy phones typically focus on stuff like the iPhone's non-replaceable batteries, battery life in general, non-curved screens, lack of wireless charging and what not.
But the latest Samsung commercials appears to have found a new anti-iPhone angle: the lack of customization.
The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that Apple is entitled to an injunction that would bar Samsung from using its patented technology in its devices. The decision could force the Korean manufacturer to change certain features on its smartphones and tablets.
At the heart of the matter is 3 software features that Apple has patented: slide-to-unlock on a device's touchscreen, the automatic correction of spelling errors, and quick-linking, which allows a user to do things like tap on a phone number within a body of text to place a call.