Samsung

An interesting leak has emerged online this morning that suggests Samsung is about to bring a new type of light notification technology to the rear case of its smartphones. Android phones often come with a separate notification LED on the front of the handset that alerts users to missed messages and calls. Otherwise, notifications are usually assumed to relate to the display of a mobile...

In a lengthy new interview with Adweek (via CNET), Samsung's top marketing executive Younghee Lee addressed a few topics centered around how the company "embraced innovation to become a global master of brand marketing." Its accomplishments in the media space have earned it the 2016 Marketer of the Year award at the Cannes Ad Festival. One of Lee's soundbites of the interview is particularly...

The United States Department of Justice today urged the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that was in Apple's favor and send the Apple vs. Samsung case back to trial court, reports Reuters. The DoJ submitted an amicus brief on Samsung's behalf as the Supreme Court prepares to hear the long-running Apple vs. Samsung case. Apple's dispute with Samsung made its way to the Supreme...

Smartphone maker and display manufacturer Samsung is believed to launch a pair of smartphones in early 2017, each with a bendable OLED display. According to people familiar with the smartphones' development (via Bloomberg), the two devices could be unveiled as early as Q1 2017 -- potentially at Mobile World Congress in February -- and come in two different sizes, similar to that of the iPhone 6s...

Samsung today introduced the Gear IconX, a set of wireless earbuds that are similar in style to the Bragi Dash. The IconX earbuds have no wires to connect them to one another and no wire to plug them into a smartphone or other device, instead communicating wirelessly over Bluetooth. Priced at $199.99, the IconX earbuds feature 4GB of internal storage to hold music and use hooks to securely fit ...

Samsung today announced that mass production has begun on a new NVMe PCIe solid state drive in a ball grid array package, the first of its kind to be available in large quantities. The SSD, called the PM971-NVMe, is tiny, merging all SSD components into a package that's smaller than a standard U.S. postage stamp. Designed for next-generation PCs and ultra-slim notebooks, the PM971-NVMe...

The latest data from market research firm IDC reveals that the Apple Watch remained the most popular smartwatch in the first quarter, with an estimated 1.5 million sales and 46 percent market share through the first three months of 2016. Meanwhile, basic wearables unsurprisingly continue to outpace smartwatches. Samsung was the closest threat to Apple Watch among smartwatches in the quarter, ...

The latest data from research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics reveals that iPad market share declined for the ninth consecutive quarter as the worldwide tablet market continues to slow. Apple now has between 22.1 and 25.9-percent market share among tablet vendors, down from between 24.3 and 27.2-percent in the year-ago quarter. Apple reported iPad sales of 10.3 million during the March...

The latest data from research firm Strategy Analytics reveals that Apple Watch sales totaled an estimated 2.2 million in the first quarter. Apple Watch remains the most popular smartwatch, but its market share declined to 52.4-percent compared to 63-percent in the previous quarter. Strategy Analytics cites increasing competition from Android Wear rivals such as LG and Motorola as one reason ...

The latest data from research firm IDC reveals that Apple's smartphone market share dropped to 15.3 percent in the March quarter as the worldwide smartphone market fell nearly flat during the first three months of 2016. Apple yesterday reported iPhone sales of 51.2 million during the three-month period ending March 26, compared to 61.2 million units and 18.3 percent market share in the...

Samsung is once again set to begin supplying Apple with NAND flash memory chips in 2017, ending a five-year hiatus dating back to the debut of the iPhone 5 in 2012, according to ETNews. The reason for the dissolution of the original supplier relationship is given as Samsung's unwillingness to comply with Apple's electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding requirements via packaging changes or...

Samsung Display Co. will begin supplying Apple with OLED display panels starting in 2017, reports The Korea Herald. According to the terms of the deal, which is worth $2.59 billion, Samsung will provide Apple with 100 million units of 5.5-inch OLED panels on an annual basis. OLED panels eliminate the need for the backlighting used in traditional LCDs, potentially allowing Apple to cut down on...

In January, Samsung announced plans to add iOS support to its Gear S2 Smart Watch, and it appears work on an iOS app is well underway. Screenshots of a beta Gear S2 app designed for iOS devices have been shared on the XDA forums, giving us a first look at the design of the app and the features that will be available. XDA forum members have also been able to download the test app and have...

With the Apple Watch 2 expected to launch in the second half of 2016, supply chain informant DigiTimes reports that Samsung and other overseas manufacturers have secured component orders for the next-generation device. Taiwan-based Advanced Semiconductor Engineering will fulfill the majority of system-on-a-chip production, while Amkor Technology and STATS ChipPAC will share a portion of...

A nearly five-year-old design patent trial between Apple and Samsung has reached a new level, as the U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear Samsung's appeal of a lower court decision that ordered the South Korean electronics maker to pay a $548 million settlement to its Cupertino-based rival in December. According to Reuters, Samsung plans to appeal what it believes are "excessive...

The long-running dispute between Apple and Samsung continues, with an appeals court today handing the Cupertino-based company a defeat by invalidating two Apple patents and ruling a third had not been infringed by Samsung (via Bloomberg). The ruling, which covers Apple patents related to slide-to-unlock, autocorrect, and interactive phone number features, also threw out the original $119.6 million...

DisplayMate Technologies has declared that Samsung's new Galaxy S7 has the "best smartphone display" it has ever tested, making a strong case for Apple's rumored shift to OLED displays within the next two to three years. The in-depth display shoot-out found the Galaxy S7 display to be significantly better than the Galaxy S6, including increased brightness by up to 29 percent, improved screen ...

Samsung yesterday announced the opening of its new flagship store in New York City, describing it as "the flagship of the future", but in a curious twist, one which does not actively sell Samsung products. Named simply "837" after its address in the popular Meatpacking district, the "living lab and digital playground" is a 55,000 square-foot space that includes a three-story digital screen...

Today at Mobile World Congress, Samsung announced the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, the latest devices in its flagship line of smartphones. While the two new devices are nearly identical to last year's Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, they add a trio of features that were left out of those models: expandable storage, water resistance and more battery life. However, while previously rumored, the device does not...

The latest data from Strategy Analytics reveals that the Apple Watch remained the most popular smartwatch through the fourth quarter of 2015, capturing 63 percent global market share based on an estimated 5.1 million sales in the three-month period. Samsung trailed in second place with 16 percent market share and an estimated 1.3 million sales. Apple and Samsung together accounted for 8 in 10...