Apple

Samsung buys rumored Apple Car battery partner Magna International

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 23, 2015

The Apple Car rumor just took a more interesting twist with news that Samsung is acquiring Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Samsung SDI, the South Korean firm's material and energy solution providing arm, itself confirmed the acquisition in a media release Monday, saying it was acquiring Magna International’s battery pack unit.

Magna, which has its headquarters in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, sells its vehicle battery technology to Tesla and other car makers and has recently been linked to Apple's secret electric car project.

Rumor: Apple poaching Samsung’s semiconductor and battery experts

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

Apple is luring Samsung Electronics' engineers, including chip experts who specialize ”in next-generation technology” related to signal and visual-processing management and battery technology, offering raises and competitive benefits, according to a report Monday by The Korea Times.

In addition to highly-competitive benefits and large annual paychecks, Apple is said to be luring Samsung experts by promising them greater independence, according to unnamed officials.

Samsung buys Apple Pay competitor LoopPay

Jake Smith ∙ Updated March 4, 2017

Samsung announced on Wednesday that it's buying Apple Pay competitor LoopPay as it looks to bolster a mobile payments product. LoopPay, similar to Apple's offering, offers a mobile wallet that allows wireless payments to take place on existing magnetic stripe readers.

Samsung to outwit Apple with 3-sided Galaxy S6 screen and all-metal enclosure?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Bloomberg is reporting Wednesday that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6 flagship smartphone, developed under the “Project Zero” codename, will come in two flavors, including a model with a display covering three sides. The other model will have a regular screen that doesn't stretch down either side.

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke to the news organization report that both editions of the device rock 5.1-inch screens, are encased in all-metal bodies and run “Samsung’s most advanced processor chips.”

We recently reported that Samsung in a last-minute move dropped Qualcomm's 64-bit Snapdragon 810 silicon which overheated during testing.

More word Samsung will manufacture Apple’s next-gen A9 processor

Jake Smith ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

Apple is moving away from TSMC and back to Samsung to manufacture the chip that is the power house behind the iPhone, reports Recode.

The report notes that Apple had "hoped" to rely more heavily on TSMC for the next-generation A9 processor - probably, you know, because Samsung is a huge rival - but things didn't work out that way because of TSMC's limits in manufacturing.

Samsung will be building the A9 chip using the 14nm process, which allows the chip to run cooler and draw less power from the iPhone's battery. TSMC is unable to manufacture anything smaller than the 20nm process that is currently used in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Latest Samsung Galaxy S6 leak looks close to iPhone 6

Jake Smith ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

The latest leak for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6 point to the flagship smartphone looking very close to the iPhone 6 that was released by Apple last fall. Nowhereelse.fr got its hands on alleged photos of the handset's parts, showing a metal cassis with rounded sides.

More suspect, the photos also show feature placement of the Galaxy S6 is the same on the iPhone 6 for the headphone jack, speaker, cable connector, and SIM card. There's also similar antenna breaks, however they're found on the bottom and top of the device instead of the left and right sides.

HTC rap anthem takes ad wars to the next level, disses Apple and Samsung

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 3, 2015

Somebody thought a rap music video about HTC would be a nice excuse to blast Samsung and Apple. In what could quite possibly mark the worst Apple ad attack ever, the cringeworthy hip hop anthem titled “Hold the Crown” sings praise to the HTC M8 handset while dissing competition.

“Your phone was all glass, why you changed your tune now?,” hip hop artists Greg Carr aka “Doc G” of the musical group P.M. Dawn raps in the video.

“Your chip is slower, but you'll never touch our BoomSound,” the lyrics continue. Accusing “more than a few clowns” who stole “what we originated”, the music video goes on to proclaim HTC as the master of the universe and paint “your Galaxy” as “overrated”.

Samsung schedules ‘Galaxy Unpacked 2015’ event for March 1

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

The South Korean consumer electronics giant, Samsung, today announced that it will be holding its annual ‘Galaxy Unpacked’ event next month, as reported by the SamMobile blog.

Titled ‘Galaxy Unpacked 2015,’ the event is scheduled for March 1, coinciding with Mobile World Congress which runs March 2-5 in Barcelona, Spain.

Of course, we fully expect the Galaxy S6, or whatever it's called, to go head-to-head against Apple's latest iPhones. The invites have gone out to select members of the press and feature black background, what appears to be a profile of a curved device and the “What's Next” tagline tease.

While Apple is reaching new heights, Samsung is hitting new lows

Sébastien Page ∙ January 29, 2015

Apple and Samsung might be sharing the crown for top smartphone maker, with both companies reportedly shipping 74.5 million units in the last quarter, there are still wide discrepancies between the financials of the two giants. While Apple is reaching new heights following the record-smashing financial results for the last quarter it reported on Tuesday, Samsung is reaching new lows as its mobile division is crumbling to turn a profit, a situation that is the result of two very different strategies.

Apple ties Samsung for the world’s top smartphone maker crown

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 29, 2016

Driven by phenomenal iPhone sales during the holiday quarter, Apple has now tied Samsung for the title of the world's top smartphone maker. According to latest numbers from research firm Strategy Analytics relayed by Bloomberg, both companies sold about 74.5 million smartphones during the fourth quarter of last year.

Both companies took an equal 19.6 percent market share in the global market for smartphones. Motorola owner Lenovo was a distant third with a 6.5 percent share, followed by Chinese vendor Huawei, which took a 5.7 percent share. Lenovo and Huawei shipper about 24 million smartphones each.

Samsung Galaxy S6 won’t be using Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip due to overheating

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 4, 2016

News broke today that Samsung's upcoming flagship, the fabled Galaxy S6, won't be using Qualcomm's new mobile system-on-a-chip, the Snapdragon 810.

As Re/code noted, the revelation came indirectly, via Qualcomm's earnings call today, as the firm had to tell investors “a large customer's flagship device” won't be shipping with the Snapdragon 810 inside.

Lost business has forced Qualcomm to cut its outlook for the fiscal year slightly. The semiconductor maker did not say which client, and why, has dropped the Snapdragon 810.

However, a week ago Bloomberg learned that Samsung had opted to drop the 810 from its upcoming flagship due to overheating problems.

Samsung’s Galaxy S6 rumored to adopt touch-based fingerprint sensor akin to Touch ID

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6 flagship smartphone will include a much-improved fingerprint sensor which takes cues from Apple's Touch ID in that it will recognize a fingerprint when a user places their fingertip on the Home button, according to an unverified report last week by SamMobile.

The Galaxy S5 made some noise by adding a fingerprint sensor that requires users to swipe their finger on the sensor. It didn't win praise for quality or innovation as reviewers were quick to pan it due to inaccurate and unreliable performance, which ultimately frustrated the users.