GoKawiil
Tech News
A leak reported that an Android manufacturer may revive an 'Ultra' flagship model, reversing a broader industry trend of brands shifting toward 'Pro Max' naming for their top-tier phones. Specific details about the company or device's specifications have not been confirmed.
A home theater enthusiast testing Samsung's Q990D soundbar found the front sound stage felt too compressed, with the center and front channels blending together. Using SmartThings app settings, they reconfigured the satellite speakers—normally used as rears—to function as front drivers, which widened the front soundstage but left the system without rear surround speakers.
Samsung's Galaxy Watch devices, including the Watch 8, Watch 9, and Watch Ultra 2, display a small orange dot on the left side of the screen. The dot is a longstanding design element used to convey certain status information to the wearer in a minimal, unobtrusive way.
The foldable phone category began in 2019 with Royole's FlexPai, an awkward but functional first commercial device using flexible OLED. Samsung's Galaxy Fold followed the same year but suffered widespread screen failures tied to a misunderstood protective layer, forcing a delay and redesign. Huawei took a different approach with the outward-folding Mate X, which looked elegant but left its display exposed to scratches and was never sold in the US due to sanctions.
Following Samsung's July Unpacked launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 8, some buyers say apps don't properly scale to the device's 4:3 internal screen despite the phone's App Continuity feature meant to ease transitions between displays. Users have been discussing workarounds on online forums to address the sizing glitches.
Samsung has confirmed that several Galaxy Tab lines are receiving their last major OS upgrades. The Tab S9, S9+, S9 Ultra, S9 FE and S9 FE+ will get One UI 9 (Android 17) as their final update, with security patches continuing to around 2028. The Tab S8 series and the budget Tab A9 line have already received their final OS upgrade, One UI 8 (Android 16), with security support ending in 2027 for the S8 models and about a year from now for the A9 series.
Android Auto, the Google interface normally projected onto a car's dashboard display, can be run on an old Android tablet using third-party receiver apps instead of an actual vehicle. The phone handles all the processing, so even an aging tablet that struggles with regular apps can display Android Auto's simplified maps, music and messaging layout.
Samsung Galaxy phones running One UI 6.1.1 or later come with Auto Blocker enabled automatically, a feature that filters risky apps, USB commands and messages in the background. It blocks sideloaded apps and installs from outside the Google Play Store or Samsung Galaxy Store unless users manually adjust the setting. Epic Games previously sued Samsung, arguing the feature made installing third-party apps like its own store unnecessarily difficult.
Analysts Jeff Pu and Henry Huang of GF Securities forecast Apple will ship 257 million smartphones in 2026, a 4% increase, even as the overall market shrinks over 14% to 1.08 billion units. Apple's global market share would rise to 24%, ahead of Samsung's roughly flat 241 million units, while the note also flags weaker reception for the iPhone 18 Pro models and production constraints tied to hinge issues on the iPhone Duo.
Amazon is selling the Samsung Galaxy Book 6, a 16-inch touchscreen laptop, for $1,360, a price cut described as 50% off its usual cost. The device includes Copilot+ AI features and is rated for up to 24 hours of battery life.
Amazon has cut the price of Samsung's P9 Express 256GB microSD Express card by 25%, bringing it down to $59.99. The card is designed to work with the Nintendo Switch 2, offering faster game installs and load times than standard microSD cards.
Rising memory chip costs have driven an estimated 20 percent increase in smartphone prices this year, prompting consumers to keep devices longer or buy refurbished units. Despite this shift toward longer phone lifespans, companies like Apple and Samsung continue charging $89 to $229 for out-of-warranty battery replacements, with extended warranty plans being the main way to get cheaper service.