Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ Updates

[rahul1117kumar]

Samsung may be planning a larger version of the Galaxy S8 with a 6-inch display. A report on Naver claims that Samsung will offer the Galaxy S8 in two screen sizes, but one model will likely have a 6-inch size.

The standard version of the Galaxy S8 will continue to come with a 5-inch screen, while the S8 Plus will feature a 6-inch display. That’s a bit larger than the Note 7’s 5.7-inch display, but the report states that the smartphones will have a similar appearance, due to thinner bezels.

The report, citing a source within Samsung, claims that both Galaxy S8 models will sport a curved display. This is in line with previous rumours of Samsung altogether scrapping the flat model completely.

Samsung did consider to use an S-Pen with the Galaxy S8 Plus, but the add-on functionality was dropped from the phone, the report said. Looks like those plans were shelved in favor of keeping the Note brand alive.

Naver also says that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will ship with a voice controlled assistant. However, it has been constantly said that Google might prevent Samsung from adding AI to the Galaxy S8 since it would directly compete with its Pixel lineup, which is powered by Google Assistant.

The South Korean company started the year on a positive note with the success of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. Soon the company had to face a lot of trouble due to the Galaxy Note 7. But Samsung is looking forward to the Galaxy S8, its next-generation smartphone.

Samsung may unveil the Galaxy S8 in late February at MWC 2017, according to some published reports. Meanwhile, a report from Naver (via Sam Mobile) has said that the smartphone will be unveiled in April in New York city, instead.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus to sport 6-inch display: Report | The Indian Express

 

[Shantanu]

Samsung Galaxy S8 will reportedly feature its AI assistant in a big way


Artificial intelligence will be a big part of the Samsung Galaxy S8 , and a new report points to
Samsung's own voice-powered assistant
making itself right at home inside the device's native applications.

Bixby, as the virtual assistant is reportedly called, will be employed in just about every pre-installed app on the flagship smartphone, according to SamMobile . The AI is said to be far more robust than the aged S Voice, and it will be supported across the system.
Not surprisingly, Samsung will likely replace S Voice with Bixby in the Galaxy S8, SamMobile reports.

The site provided an example of Bixby's possible powers: If you're in the Gallery app and want to browse photos and videos with certain characteristics, you can ask Bixby to pull up images matching those requirements.
Bixby will also reportedly feature contextual awareness, handy when it's answering questions or suggesting actions without you needing to say precisely what you're after.
Viv is in
Bixby - or whatever the assistant ends up being called - will be a step up for Samsung in the AI department, one that helps it compete more closely or even surpass the likes of Apple's Siri, Google Assistant and Microsoft's Cortana.

We say surpass because a major point in Bixby's favor is that it's powered by Viv, an AI assistant developed by the co-creator of Siri. Viv is designed to work across apps and services
, and also allows for more conversational queries, letting users speak more naturally than they might to other assistants.
Of course, assistants get smarter by the day, and with the Samsung Galaxy S8 reportedly delayed until April 2017, the device and Bixby may only be further behind by then.
SamMobile also reports the Galaxy S8's native apps will receive a UI revamp to align their designs, and its status bar will supposedly always be showing.

As always, take these rumors with a grain of salt, but chances are we're in for some significant changes with the Galaxy S8, not excluding an AI that might actually be worthwhile.

Samsung Galaxy S8 will reportedly feature its AI assistant in a big way | TechRadar

 

[rahul1117kumar]

Samsung Galaxy S8’s digital assistant may come integrated with all pre-installed apps

Apart from all that’s being speculated about Samsung’s next year’s flagship, the Galaxy S8 , one of the most talked about feature is its digital assistant. Not long ago, we had learnt that Samsung will be giving gender identity to it digital assistant, and a patent had revealed that they may be called Bixby and Kestra. Now, the latest dirt that comes in about the Galaxy S8’s digital assistant is that it may be integrated within each app that comes pre-installed in the smartphone.

This comes from a report by SamMobile , which suggests that unlike its already existing, and not so superior in terms of its competitor’s, S Voice, the new digital assistant would be a lot more advanced and will work “system-wide”. This sounds a lot similar to how Siri works in iOS 10. You can use Siri to access not only most of your native apps, but the iOS 10 enables Siri-support for some third party apps like Uber and WhatsApp as well.

In addition, while the presence of the new AI-based digital assistant on the Galaxy S8 was confirmed by Samsung recently, for the longest time it was still just a speculation. The feature was confirmed when SamMobile sent out a tweet confirming that version 1.0 of Bixby will indeed be present on the Galaxy S8. Without going into the specifics, Samsung had confirmed that it’s next flagship smartphone is going to feature a digital assistant.

Rumors about Samsung‘s own virtual assistant began churning out a few weeks ago, after the South Korean company acquired Viv Labs, a California-based startup. The company is known for its development of intelligent interfaces that can be applied to everything, and most importantly, it is known for creating Apple’s Siri, which is now a part of Apple iPhones, iPads and the MacBooks too.
Also, for the one’s who have been out of loop and wondering where the names Bixby and Kestra come from; please roll back to the Star Trek world. Jerome Bixby is an American writer, who produced four screenplays for Star Trek episodes back in the 60s, while Kestra can be linked to Kestra Troi, the little sister of USS Enterprise’s ship counselor.

In addition to that, sometime ago, we had also learnt that the Samsung Galaxy S8 may feature a button dedicated to launching the AI digital assistant. Essentially, rather than using just speech to fire up the device’s virtual assistant, a Wall Street Journal report hinted that it is more likely that customers will be able to use a hardware shortcut button to trigger the feature. “The latest internal prototypes of the premium Galaxy S8 handset include a button on the side edge of the smartphone that would be used to launch a beefed-up virtual assistant,” says the report.

However, to counter that, some sources said that this report may not turn out to be true, given that the “prototypes aren’t final and could change.” And, the fact that Samsung hasn’t yet agreed on how the AI assistant would work could indicate that the company may not be ready yet to launch the flagship handset at the Mobile World Congress in February 2017 as was expected. In turn, we learnt, that the launch may be pushed to April 2017.

Also, Samsung may expand the AI digital assistant to its other devices as well, including wearables to make every Samsung user’s life connected to their own personal assistant, that will learn everything about them. While Samsung has not yet specified the features of the Viv AI digital assistant, it did mention that third-party developers will be able to integrate their services and interact with the assistant.

Samsung Galaxy S8’s digital assistant may come integrated with all pre-installed apps

 

[rahul1117kumar]

Samsung Galaxy S8 rumored to come with Note 7-like S Pen as external accessory

It looks like Samsung really wants to make it up to its consumers who have been disheartened by the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. The company is apparently making sure its next flagship – Galaxy S8 – leaves no stone unturned to help consumers miss the now-discontinued phablet a tad less. If latest rumors are to be believed, the Galaxy S8 could come with Samsung’s proprietary S Pen as an external accessory. Hint – another bout against Apple’s next iPhone.

Until now, the S Pen had been exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy Note series of large-screen smartphones. However, in light of the official execution of the Note 7 from the market, the stylus could help consumers deal with the inflammation better and also seamlessly upgrade to the Galaxy S8. Now, given the requirement for the use of a stylus is a large screen display, the latest rumor falls in line with earlier speculations about the upcoming Galaxy S8 featuring display sizes from 5.1-inch and going up to a massive 6.1-inch.

It had been previously rumored that S Pen could come integrated in the Galaxy S8 similar to the Note models. However, the company apparently decided against it and is now looking at offering it as an external accessory. Details about the pricing of the S Pen are scarce, but one could expect the company bundle the accessory as an introductory offer when the smartphone is officially launched.

The recall and the ultimate discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone has left Samsung with a globally damaged reputation, compelling the company to issue public apology to affected consumers. Industry analysts suggest that the only way out for the company to move out of the massive failure and win the consumer trust back is to completely kill its Note series. Now, the latest rumor of bringing the Note-exclusive feature to Galaxy S8 suggests that the company might indeed be considering officially putting to rest its phablet series.

Additionally, it could also mean that the South Korea-based company is yet again trying to take on arch rival Apple. The California-based company has filed a patent which reveals that a future iPhone could come with a stylus that will allow text entry, doodling, annotations, and more. Although Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 is unlikely to come with the stylus, but given the company’s recent shift towards large-display smartphones after the iPhone 6 Plus and later, a stylus-based iPhone isn’t too far from reality.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S8 – Samsung’s only hope at having a better start to 2017 and turn around its fate – is expected to come in multiple variants with one boasting a massive 6-inch display. It is expected to be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 SoC or Exynos 8895 chipset, depending upon the region. It is further rumored to feature up to 8GB of RAM along with onboard storage options of 128GB and 256GB.

The purported Samsung Galaxy S8 is likely to offer a dual rear camera module and come with a pair of 16-megapixel camera with RGB sensor and an 8-megapixel camera with monochrome sensor. For selfies, it is expected to come with a camera with auto focus capabilities. Other features include optical fingerprint sensor, water and dust resistance capabilities, and a 4,200mAh battery with wireless charging capabilities. On the software front, the Galaxy S8 is expected to run on Android Nougat 7.1.1 out-of-the-box.

Samsung Galaxy S8 rumored to come with Note 7-like S Pen as external accessory

 

[Saj 007]

Samsung Galaxy S8 Tipped to Launch With New Wireless In-Ear Headphones Alongside...

Samsung is now reportedly planning to launch new set of wireless earphones after news reports from earlier this month suggested that the company might ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack with its upcoming smartphone Galaxy S8. The new wireless in-ear headphones from the company are expected to be launched alongside its Galaxy S8 smartphone, which is expected to be announced in April next year.
The South Korean manufacturer is expected to launch the new wireless headphones alongside its Galaxy S8 smartphone but whether they will be bundled with the phone or sold separately is not known yet, as per a report by Sammobile. Even though the new wireless earphones are expected to rival Apple's AirPods, it remains to be seen whether they will feature Harman audio or not, as per the report. The speculation stems from the South Korean company's announced acquisition of Harman. The specific details about the rumoured wireless earphones are not yet available but might show up as we approach the launch date of the smartphone.

As Samsung already has its Gear IconX wireless in-ear headphones out in the market, it will be interesting to see what additional features or designs the company plans to offer with its new series of earphones.

We recently reviewed the Gear IconX earphones and concluded that the wireless earphones from Samsung are well-designed and provide useful fitness-tracking features. However, they feature a weak battery life and just about acceptable audio quality that's "not befitting of a product that costs Rs. 13,490."

Samsung Galaxy S8 Tipped to Launch Alongside New Wireless In-Ear Headphones | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[Bapun]

Samsung will release a flat variant of the Galaxy S8

For the past couple of years, Samsung has been launching two variants of its flagship Galaxy S series handsets. The Galaxy S6 has a flat display while the Galaxy S6 edge touts a dual-edge curved display. It’s a similar story with the Galaxy S7 and that’s how it was expected to be with the Galaxy S8 as well until a few months ago when rumors started circulating that perhaps Samsung would do away with the flat variant and launch the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus with both featuring a dual-edge curved display.

That might not be the case anymore if the latest rumors that we’re hearing are believed. It’s said that Samsung is retaining the flat variant so we’re going to see the Galaxy S8 with a flat display as well. Of the two variants, the SM-G950 and SM-G955 are expected to feature the flat and dual-edge curved display respectively. There’s no final word as yet on the display size but recent rumors suggest that Samsung might go beyond the 6-inch mark for the SM-G955.

As always, take such rumors with a grain of salt. We’ve previously told you that Samsung has been testing several prototypes of its upcoming flagships which is why we’re seeing all kinds of contradictory reports and rumors about the device. Nothing is set in stone at this point in time. Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S8 at an event in New York City this April.

Rumor: Samsung will release a flat variant of the Galaxy S8 - SamMobile

 

[Saj 007]

Samsung Galaxy S8 Design Tipped as First Leaked Image Hits Web...!

Samsung's Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone already has a lot riding on it after the Galaxy Note 7's fiasco tainted the company's reputation late last year. Thanks to a flurry of leaks, a lot of details about the upcoming Galaxy S8 have already been revealed. A new leaked image may have given first glimpse of the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Slashleaks has shared an image (see below) with Samsung branding at the front claimed to be the Galaxy S8. The images show the smartphone featuring dual-edge curved display. While looking at earlier generations indicates this may be the Samsung Galaxy S8 Edge variant, recent rumours indicate the company will only launch a dual-edge display Galaxy S flagship this year, in two screen sizes.

The leaked image shows Chinese text, tipping that the handset may be a prototype unit which Samsung is working on. From the leaked image, it's apparent that the Samsung Galaxy S8 series will pack greater screen-to-body-ratio compared to the Galaxy S7 series. The new leaked image again tips that Samsung may finally get rid of the signature physical home button placed right below the display.

An earlier report tipped Samsung Galaxy S8 may abandoned the 3.5mm headphone jack while the front camera is said to come with the autofocus feature.
Rumours suggest that the Galaxy S8 may pack 8GB of RAM while the company is also rumoured to be working on a big-screen version of the smartphone - called the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus - featuring a 6-inch display which is expected to fill the gap between the flagship Galaxy S series and the phablet Galaxy Note series. The Galaxy S8 Plus is also said to pack an external S-Pen stylus.
Samsung's pressure-sensitive display technology is also expected to debut on the Galaxy S8, working similarly to Apple's 3D Touch first seen on the iPhone 6s. The flagship smartphone will likely be powered by the recently announced Snapdragon 835 SoC from Qualcomm while an Exynos 8895-based variant of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is also being rumoured.
A recent report claimed that Samsung pushed back the launch of its alleged Galaxy S8 smartphone back to April 2017 from February 2017 earlier in order to gain confidence from consumers before making it available worldwide.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Design Tipped as First Leaked Image Hits Web; Shows Dual-Edge Display | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[Saj 007]

Samsung Galaxy S8 Shipment Goal at 60 Million Units, Small Batch to Be Released Early: Reports...

South Korean consume electronics giant Samsung is hoping to make a comeback with its 2017 flagship, the Galaxy S8, and the smartphone is expected to sport a lot of innovative features. To make up for last year's Galaxy Note 7 debacle, Samsung has set ambitious goals for itself and is looking to ship as many as 60 million units of the Galaxy S8 in one year, a report claims.
Samsung's ambitious sales goal heavily depends on the supply of parts from vendors, and the customer's reaction to the flagship. "The mass production of the Samsung Galaxy S8 will start in March, when Samsung will begin rolling out 5 million units of the S8 each month after it receives electronic parts in February from its main vendors, including camera iris scanner module maker Partron and camera lens firm Sekonix," an anonymous source told The Investor.
This 60-million unit shipment goal is much higher than the flagship shipments the company has made in the past three years. To put things into perspective, the publication claims the total shipments of the Samsung Galaxy S7 shipment were 48 million units, while the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S5 shipments were 45 million units. Samsung looks to go back to the early days when its flagship 'S' series was a blockbuster hit. Notably, Samsung sold a record 70 million handsets of the 2013 Samsung Galaxy S4, and 65 million units of the 2012 Samsung Galaxy S3.
In addition, Samsung may even drop a batch of the Galaxy S8 units a little earlier than the delayed April launch. "There is a possibility of the S8 phones being showcased a month or two ahead of the actual release date," another anonymous insider told the publication.

This hints that even though unveil may be early, shipments won't start before mid-April. Samsung is even relying on its Galaxy A and Galaxy J series to rake in some profits this year. The Investor also reports that the company looks to ship around 20 million Galaxy A handsets and 100 million of the lower-end Galaxy J series handsets this year.
Samsung has outlined a lot of work for itself this year with these ambitious sales targets. With the slowing smartphone market, it will be a challenge to convince buyers to opt for its handsets over the others. Furthermore, the many Chinese smartphone companies that have saturated the most premium markets will add to its woes.

In any case, the Samsung Galaxy S8 looks promising with its large display, two size variants, optical fingerprint sensor, no Home Button, and no audio jack. It is expected to be slightly costlier than the Galaxy S7 last year due to major design changes.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Shipment Goal at 60 Million Units, Small Batch to Be Released Early: Reports | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[rahul1117kumar]

Samsung Galaxy S8 Revealed: Price, Specs And Everything Else You Need to Know

Samsung got the smartphone enthusiasts buzzing with two new ads on YouTube recently. The ads show Samsung's brand-new AMOLED displays.

And at the end of these ads there is a mysterious smartphone that shows up. It's believed that the phone is the upcoming Smasung Galaxy S8. The phone has been much talked about in recent months and will be the first major release by the company after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. The device is expected to launch at Mobile World Congress 2017 that will be held in Barcelona.

The Korean promo also suggests a high screen to body ratio and a 4K display. The promo also shows a sharp display and low power consumption.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to come with two different display sizes of 5-inch and 6-inch. The bigger display model is expected to be named as Galaxy S8 Plus.

The device will also retain a 3.5 mm audio jack and is expected to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 6GB RAM. Rumours also suggest that there will be an 8GB RAM also on offer. Samsung might offer the device with their own Exynos processor in India as they have been doing this for the past several years.

The Galaxy S8 will also be IP68 certified - dust proof and water resistant over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes. Teh device will run on Android Nougat operating system and sport a 3000 mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery.

The camera on the Galaxy S8 will be a similar to what we saw on the Note 7. The primary camera will be 12-megapixel with phase detection autofocus, OIS and dual-LED flash. The selfie camera will be an 8-megapixel camera.

The expected price for the Samsung Galaxy S8 will be Rs 64,999 in India. The device might land in India by May 2017 as Samsung would also like to get sooner, as they could never offer the 2016 flagship Galaxy Note 7 in India last year.


Samsung Galaxy S8 Revealed: Price, Specs And Everything Else You Need to Know - News18

 

[mgparmar18plus]

We knew this was bound to happen in the days leading up to the Galaxy S8 launch and it has happened today. VentureBeat has posted what appears to be the first live photo leak of the Galaxy S8. The image confirms some key details about Samsung’s next flagship smartphone that have been reiterated in rumors and reports repeatedly.

Samsung is going to launch two models of the Galaxy S8 which will feature a 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display. There’s not going to be a flat display version as both handsets will have the dual-edge curved display. The screens are said to cover 83 percent of the handset’s front panel and it certainly looks nice.

We already know that the Galaxy S8 is going to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and the report adds that it’s going to feature 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. A battery size of 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh is mentioned for the 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch model respectively.

The image reveals that the Galaxy S8 is going to have a USB Type-C port and that the physical home button has been removed. We can also see that the standard 3.5mm headphone jack has not been ditched. We can also see that the fingerprint sensor has been positioned alongside the camera on the back.

While the 12-megapixel (f1.7) rear and 8-megapixel (f1.7) front cameras are reportedly not going to see a resolution improvement compared to the Galaxy S7, the rear camera is said to have a new visual search feature with icons being displayed on the screen that enable users to indicate the type of search to be performed. This feature can be used to perform Optical Character Recognition-enabled web searches, for example. There’s a sensor alongside the front camera which will provide iris scanning functionality like the Galaxy Note 7.

The report also mentions that Samsung is going to launch the Galaxy S8 at a special event in New York on March 29. The public release is going to take place a couple of weeks later in April. Both Galaxy S8 models are reportedly going to cost €100 more than the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 with the 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch models expected to be priced at €799 and €899 respectively.

BREAKING: First live photo leak of the Galaxy S8 confirms key details - SamMobile