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Life with Bixby is equal parts futuristic and frustrating
In the future, the voice of Bixby -- Samsung's virtual assistant -- will ring forth from refrigerators and smart speakers and who knows what else. No wonder the company is taking its time with it. For those who really can't wait, Bixby's voice interface is available as a preview you can access now. I spent the last few days chatting with Bixby as often as possible. Our time together has been ... eye-opening, to say the least. It's definitely not ready for the wild, but despite the bad news surrounding it, Samsung's virtual assistant is starting to feel pretty capable. Emphasis on "starting to."
Samsung expects its record-breaking profits in 2017 will continue
After stumbling in 2016 Samsung appears to be back on track in 2017, as it just announced projected earnings for the second quarter that would show its highest operating profit ever. The company won't provide a detailed breakdown for a few more weeks, but it's estimating an operating profit of 14 trillion Korean won ($12.11 billion US). Analysts cited by Bloomberg and Reuters believe the figures got a boost from the well-received Galaxy S8, as well as the RAM, processors and display components Samsung makes.
Samsung needs data before Bixby is ready for English speakers
Wondering why Samsung still hasn't enabled Bixby voice features in English despite promising a launch in the spring? Apparently, it's down to a lack of info. A spokesperson tells the Korea Herald that the company just doesn't have enough "big data" to make its AI-powered voice assistant available in languages besides Korean. It needs that extra knowledge to train Bixby's deep learning system, the Herald says. That's borne out by US beta testing: Samsung says there have been some 'unsatisfactory' responses so far.
Unlock your PC with your Samsung phone's fingerprint reader
Have a recent Samsung phone and a Windows 10 PC? Life's about to get a bit easier. Samsung has updated its Flow app to let you use the fingerprint reader on Galaxy devices running Android Marshmallow or newer (such as the S6, S7 and S8) to log into any Windows 10 PC using Hello, not just Samsung's own Galaxy TabPro S. If you regularly keep your phone on-hand, you won't have to enter your password every time you sit down at your computer.
Wallet-busting Galaxy Note 8 expected to launch in September
VentureBeat reported today that the upcoming Galaxy Note 8 will be Samsung's most expensive model yet. The phone is expected to retail for €999 -- which should put it somewhere around $900 -- and will likely launch in late September. The information comes from someone briefed on Samsung's plans.
Samsung exclusives are the last thing Google Play Music needs
Back in April, Samsung used the launch of its excellent Galaxy S8 smartphone to make a small but important announcement about a partnership with Google. Google Play Music would be the default music player on all Samsung smartphones, and Google would develop exclusive features for the company's devices. That's good for Samsung and its customers: Now the company isn't wasting time building apps nobody wants that simply duplicate ones that Android already has. And it's a win for Google, whose music service is now the default on this top-selling Android phone. But we're now seeing the first signs that deal is going to be a bummer for everyone else using Play Music. Some enterprising Reddit users noticed a new Samsung-exclusive feature called New Release Radio: a personalized station that surfaces new songs every day. It's similar to Spotify's extremely popular Discover Weekly playlist and Apple Music's customized New Music Mix (also updated every Friday). But at least to start, this station appears to be exclusive to Samsung users. (We've reached out to Samsung and Google for comment on this, but neither company has responded yet.)
Bixby's voice features aren't finished, but US users can test them
Samsung's virtual assistant Bixby generated untold levels of hype before the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus launched, but the version we actually got to use still feels half-baked. While the company still hasn't locked down when Bixby's voice search and control features will go live, it just confirmed that brave users in the US can enroll in an "early preview test" to get a taste of what's coming down the pipeline.
‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Galaxy S8 comes with its own booty chest
Samsung's Galaxy S8, released in April, was the success the tech titan needed after the Note 7's spectacular (and flammable) failure. Now safely underway with high sales, the company has included its new smartphone in another time-honored Samsung tradition: Special movie editions. Why buy a boring regular Galaxy S8 when you can get a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed version for $880?
WSJ: Bixby Voice won't debut on Galaxy S8 until late June
To hear Samsung's Galaxy S8 ad campaign tell it, the company's Bixby digital assistant was already fully featured and ready to go at the handset's launch. The reality is quite a bit different, however. Bixby Voice, the would-be competitor to Siri and Google Assistant apparently won't be available until late next month, somewhat narrowing the "later this spring" timeframe from April. Wall Street Journal reports that the cause for tardiness has to do with how the assistant comprehends English syntax and grammar. To be fair, that's a sore spot for pretty much every artificial intelligence system at the moment.
The Galaxy S8 iris scanner can be hacked with aging tech
Biometrics are becoming our next de facto security measure, and they're supposed to be a vast improvement on easily-forgotten and hackable passwords. Yet a point-and-shoot camera, laser printer and contact lens is all it took for German hacking group Chaos Computer Club to crack the Samsung Galaxy S8's iris scanner. "By far [the] most expensive part of the iris biometry hack was the purchase of the Galaxy S8," the group wrote on its website. They pulled it off by taking a photo of the target from about five meters away, and printing a close-up of the eye on a laser printer — made by Samsung, no less. A regular contact lens was placed on top of the print to replicate the curve of an eyeball. When the print was held up to the smartphone, the S8 unlocked.
Samsung's Galaxy S8 will work with Daydream VR this summer
Perhaps you were excited about playing with Google's Daydream VR headsets but never bought one of Google's very own Pixel phones (or a handful of other niche Android options). Fortunately, you'll have some more familiar phone choices later this year, with a software update bringing Daydream compatibility to both Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus as well as a yet-untitled LG flagship device coming later this year. As Google notes, this will bring the number of compatible devices to 11 by the end of the year. Wait, no new Daydream Views headset? Well, not yet.
Samsung DeX review: The impressive, unnecessary, phone-powered PC
My family's first computer was a boxy, squat Tatung with an AMD K2, a handful of RAM and a 4GB hard drive. It was ugly and slow, even by 1998 standards, but it (somehow) got the job done. The decade and change that followed brought staggering leaps in performance and huge reductions in size. I'm writing this on a Galaxy S8 Plus -- a metal-and-glass slab I just pulled out of my pocket -- connected to a monitor, keyboard and mouse with Samsung's new DeX dock. The kicker: It's far better than I dared expect. Ten-year-old me would be losing it if he saw this. In fact, the me from three or four years ago would've done the same. After all, this isn't a new idea. Companies have tried -- and mostly failed -- to make smartphones work like PCs for years now. Just look at Motorola's Atrix or Microsoft's Continuum or any of the startups languishing on Kickstarter. And yet, here we are — the Galaxy S8 doubles as a surprisingly respectable PC. The real question now isn't about how feasible the idea is, it's whether anyone should bother. Unfortunately, as impressive as DeX can be, the answer for most people is a big ol' "no."
Samsung sold over 5 million Galaxy S8 phones
Samsung was quick to crow about Galaxy S8 pre-orders, but it was easy to be skeptical without real numbers to back up the bragging. Flash forward a few weeks, though, and it's a different story. The company now reports that it has sold 5 million Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus devices worldwide since its April 21st debut -- not bad for less than a month on the market, and only in a limited number of countries. It's not certain which model was the most popular, though the regular S8's lower price helps its chances.
Unlocked versions of Samsung's Galaxy S8 are up for pre-order
Want one of Samsung's lithe new S8 handsets but want to pick your own carrier? Awesome, because pre-orders have opened for unlocked versions of the nigh-bezel-free phone. In our review, mobile editor Chris Velazco proposed that the devices could almost make you forget about Samsung's fiery news from last year.
The Galaxy S8's home button shifts to prevent screen burn
Screensavers were originally a way to prevent burn-in on older CRT monitors. The now-classic moving images in early operating systems were created to keep any single pixel on the screen from remaining in place for too long, leaving behind a ghost on the display. Modern screens like the OLED ones on Samsung's Galaxy S8 can also suffer from burn-in. Since the new flagship's Home button is virtual now, the company had to do something to prevent it from getting burned in to your display. The solution? Moving the Home button image around a little bit.
Where to buy Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus in the UK
It's that time of the year again -- one of the most important dates in the smartphone launch calendar. Today, the UK gets its hands on Samsung's new Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, and whichever size you're eyeing up, you won't be disappointed. They are easily two of the best handsets on the market right now, with the lack of bezel around their gorgeous "Infinity" displays a particularly striking feature. Though Samsung's Bixby assistant still needs some training, they are both blazing fast with batteries big enough to get you through two days of normal use. And if you didn't pre-order one right away, these are all the places you can pick one up from today.
AT&T's faux 5G network launches in Austin
At last, 5G wireless is here... sort of, but not really. As promised, AT&T has launched its unofficial 5G network, starting with certain parts of Austin. So long as you have a Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus, you can get speeds that should leave regular LTE in the dust. Expect downloads about twice as fast on average, the carrier says. Indianapolis is due for the next rollout in the summer, and there will be 20 total areas covered (including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville and San Francisco) by the end of 2017. And if you're not inclined to Samsung hardware, you should see "numerous other devices" this year that take advantage of the new network.
Samsung's Galaxy S8 hits sales records despite the Note 7's flameout
As Samsung was readying the Galaxy S8, everyone wondered if the company would be able to recover from the disastrous, exploding Note 7. From a pure quality of hardware perspective, the S8 appears to be a home run -- as long as nothing unexpected happens. The other question is whether customers would reject Samsung after the hit it took last year, but it sounds like that hasn't happened: Samsung says that pre-orders for the S8 and S8+ were the best it has ever seen.
Verizon's Galaxy S8 won't help you shop on Amazon
Samsung already gave a heads-up that Bixby wouldn't be complete when the Galaxy S8 launched, but Verizon customers will have to make do with less than most... for a while, anyway. The American carrier has confirmed to CNET that its version of the S8 doesn't currently let you use Bixby Vision to find products on Amazon just by pointing your camera. You can find images of that book you're looking for, but you can't shop for it. A Verizon spokesperson didn't explain why the feature wasn't available right away (Amazon and Samsung didn't say either), but did promise that the network was "working with Amazon" to provide it in the future.
With the Galaxy S8, Samsung grabs the smartphone design crown
In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit my bias right up front: I have never liked Samsung's smartphones. The Galaxy and Note series have both been wildly successful -- so much so that they basically cemented Samsung's status as Apple's equal in the smartphone war, at least here in the US. But the cheap plastic design and overwrought software found in early Galaxy devices turned me off, to the point that I thought I'd never take their phones seriously. When a few colleagues started talking up the Galaxy S8 after an early preview, I remained skeptical. Yes, the company had been taking big steps forward in industrial design over the past two years, but I just couldn't imagine how something with screens this large could be comfortable. (We all remember the tragedy that was the massive Nexus 6.)
