Galaxy Note 8 Oreo firmware reveals unannounced Galaxy device codenames

Without divine intervention, there’s no way Samsung is going to see sense in not releasing a boatload of smartphones in 2018, just like every year in the past. Well, the company does claim to have worked on “lineup optimization of low-end models”, calling it a reason for decreased smartphone shipments in Q4 2017. But that might not actually be the case, as an XDA developer has discovered a slew of codenames in the leaked Galaxy Note 8 Oreo beta for devices Samsung may be working on for a 2018 release.

Unannounced Galaxy device codenames unearthed

We’ll be honest here: We don’t think much of this list of device codenames as far as products turning into reality is concerned. Indeed, the XDA developer has only speculated to talk about which codename may belong to which device, doing a bit of deductive work to make sense of a mostly random list. Some of it just sounds to be too randomly thrown in by Samsung, putting a question mark on whether the list should be taken seriously.

There are a couple of devices here that could actually come out, like the Galaxy Tab S4 (codenamed gts4llte). With Apple expected to launch new iPads this year, possibly one with the Face ID tech from the iPhone X, Samsung would do well to launch a high-end tablet of its own. Even if Apple doesn’t have something in the works, the Galaxy Tab S3 received enough attention and acclaim to warrant a successor, and we’d love to see it with an Infinity display with on-screen buttons. Of course, there’s also the fact that Samsung doesn’t usually need a reason to launch a new device, so the Tab S4 could come out either way.

But it’s hard to believe devices like the Galaxy J4 or Galaxy J6 exist, especially after the J5 and J7 already being huge hits and Samsung claiming to be optimizing its budget lineup. Which, sadly, brings us back to the fact that there’s not always a rhyme and reason to some of the devices Samsung launches. The J4 and J6 may well be on the way as cheaper alternatives to the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7, both of which have only gotten pricier thanks to improved specs in every iteration. The Galaxy J8, meanwhile, may replace the J7, just as the A8+ replaced the Galaxy A7. Or, wait, the J8 would be a renamed J5 and the J8+ would have to exist to replace the J7.

The one interesting codename here is jackpot, which is listed in two variants. It might be the foldable phone, or something that’s more special than the company’s mainstream flagships but not as groundbreaking as a phone with a foldable display. star and star2 should be the Galaxy S9 and S9+ according to an early rumor from last year, while crown is expected to be the Galaxy Note 9 based on a different rumor. There’s also something called astarqlte, which the developer believes could be the Galaxy S9 Active, with the letter ‘a’ in the codename pointing to an Active device, the ‘q’ an indication of the Snapdragon processor, and star already being hinted as being the standard S9.

There are also other codenames that don’t sound like those for phones or tablets, so there’s no telling what they might be referring to. Even the speculated ones aren’t guaranteed to come to market or get an official mention, however, so we would suggest taking this information with a giant pinch of salt. We’re just a month into 2018, and we’ll need further evidence before we can put stock in anything that comes out of Samsung’s software files.

Check out the full list of codenames below. For more details, head over to the source link, and leave a comment to let us know what you think of this giant dump of information about Samsung’s possible future roadmap.

• astarqlte – Samsung Galaxy S9 Active (Snapdragon)
• c10lte – Samsung Galaxy C10
• c10plte – Samsung Galaxy C10 Plus
• crown – Samsung Galaxy Note 9
• degasy18wifi
• grandppirislte
• gtaxlad
• gta2xl – Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 2018
• gtesy18lte – Samsung Galaxy Tab E 2018
• gts4llte – Samsung Galaxy Tab S4
• j2y18lte – Samsung Galaxy J2 2018
• j3neolte – Samsung Galaxy J3 Neo
• j3topelte
• j4lte – Samsung Galaxy J4
• j6lte – Samsung Galaxy J6
• j7topelte
• j7toplte
• j8lte – Samsung Galaxy J8
• jackpotlte
• jackpotqlte
• jackpot2lte
• jackpot2qlte
• kellylte
• lugelte
• star – Samsung Galaxy S9
• star2 – Samsung Galaxy S9+

The post Galaxy Note 8 Oreo firmware reveals unannounced Galaxy device codenames appeared first on SamMobile.

SamMobile http://ift.tt/2Ex5ZX2

Deal: Galaxy Note8 gets $200 cheaper at Verizon

Verizon is kicking off February with a very nice deal on one of the hottest smartphones of the moment - Samsung's Galaxy Note8, that is. This is usually priced at $960 all-in at the carrier nicknamed Big Red, but starting today you can grab one for only $760. To benefit from this $200 price cut, all you need to do is purchase the phone using Verizon's device installment payment scheme. You will pay $31.66 per month for two years, down from the normal price of $40 per month. The price reduction will be applied in the form of bill credits, starting in 1-2 billing cycles. This ends when...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles http://ift.tt/2nuxMAd

Nintendo announces Mario Kart Tour for mobile

Good news for fans of anything Mario-related! Today Nintendo has unveiled that it plans to launch a new game on mobile platforms. It will be called Mario Kart Tour, and it's already in active development. Mario Kart Tour should become available on an iPhone or Android handset near you before the end of March 2019. That timeline means there could be a lot of waiting to be done, and the company unfortunately hasn't shared any more details about the game. For now, it's good to know that a version of Mario Kart is actually making it to mobile devices. Mario Kart Tour will follow Super...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles http://ift.tt/2FDVznL

Flagship Sony Xperias will get 2 years of Android updates, mid-rangers are less lucky

Sony has been one of the more reliable brands when it comes to supporting its old devices, but until now it didn't have an official policy on how long support lasts. So, here's a bit of clarity and piece of mind. Sony commits to upgrading its all of its premium devices to the latest Android version for two years after launch. These top devices all participate in the Security Update Program too, to patch security risks and vulnerabilities. Mid-range and entry-level devices don't get a set period of support. If the company decides the hardware can't deliver "a stable user experience" with...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles http://ift.tt/2DUCuBc

Samsung downplays impact of weak iPhone X sales on its revenues

Yesterday Samsung released its Q4 2017 earnings, where the company posted a record high profit for the last quarter. Despite this performance, many people were skeptical if Samsung will be able to maintain this momentum due to various uncertainties in its components business.

Less than expected sales of iPhone X is one such factor many analysts believed will have a negative impact on earnings from Samsung’s display division in the next few quarters. With Samsung being one of the largest component suppliers for Apple’s smartphones overall, weak demand for iPhones is presumed by many analysts to be bad news for Samsung anyway. In fact, reports estimated that Samsung’s component business would make more money supplying to iPhones than to the in-house Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

Samsung is confident in its diverse portfolio of clients

However, amidst all this chatter about weak iPhone X sales, Samsung has downplayed its impact on its revenues. Samsung seems to be confident in its diverse portfolio of clients negating any adverse effect by any one of its customers.

Answering to a question on the potential impact of weak demand for iPhone X during a conference call, a Samsung executive said, “It is hard to give specific details, but we have been trying to diversify our clients and reduce reliance on a certain customer to build a healthy portfolio. The company’s business will not be affected much by a certain customer.”

After Apple, Samsung is reported to be the biggest beneficiary of iPhone X sales as it’s the only supplier of OLED panels for Apple’s first OLED iPhone. Samsung was rumored to make around $14.3 billion in revenue if iPhone X sales were up to the expectations.

Samsung was the only company which could meet Apple’s expectations in terms of quality and scale. Being the sole supplier of OLED panels for Apple, Samsung was predicted to make as much as $22 billion in revenue from supplying OLED panels to Apple in 2018. When news about Samsung reconsidering its plans to build a new OLED factory in South Korea surfaced in media, many believed weak demand for iPhone X sales was one of the factors. We have to wait for a couple of quarters to see if weak iPhone X sales will have any substantial impact on Samsung’s revenues.

The post Samsung downplays impact of weak iPhone X sales on its revenues appeared first on SamMobile.

SamMobile http://ift.tt/2FD96vX

Motorola's newest Style Shells are made out of Gorilla Glass

Motorola has launched five new Style Shells that are made out of a combination of Gorilla Glass 5 and polycarbonate. These can be mounted on the back of any of the Motorola devices that supports Moto Mods. Retro Stripe • Overlapping Triangles • Graphic Flowers • Expressive Curves • Colored Leaves The new Style Shells come in five patterns, Retro Stripe, Overlapping Triangles, Graphic Flowers, Expressive Curves, and Colored Leaves. These new glass variants join the existing wood and nylon options. Being made out of glass does make them bit more fragile than the other...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles http://ift.tt/2rXw27f

Galaxy Note 8 gets new update with no changelog, January security patch

The Galaxy Note 8 got updated with the January 2018 security patch not too long ago, and Samsung is now rolling out a new software update for its newest flagship. Oddly, the security patch is still on January, and there’s nothing in the changelog other than “improved security.” It’s possible the company has thrown in a few additional security fixes or has fixed some bugs that may have cropped up with the last update. The update is rolling out in Brazil and France at the moment, so it certainly doesn’t look limited to a particular market.

Galaxy Note 8 gets new update

If there are new security fixes in there, they could be related to the Meltdown and Spectre processor exploits that have rocked the tech world. These exploits are more dangerous on actual PCs but do affect smartphones as well, so maybe that is what the new Note 8 update targets. There’s no way to tell right now, but if you have a Note 8 and are in the aforementioned countries, you can check if the update is available in the Software update section of the settings. The firmware version on the new build is N950FXXU3BRA8.

The post Galaxy Note 8 gets new update with no changelog, January security patch appeared first on SamMobile.

SamMobile http://ift.tt/2DTTiZp