Michel G.

All posts by Michel G.

Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016) review: basic, beautiful, and a bit too expensive

Samsung's been busy finding ways to keep their non-flagship devices competitive against a flood of cheaper brands pushing the value-for-money boundary. The Galaxy A3 (2016) is the cheapest device in the Galaxy A line-up, with the fewest features. Do its looks justify its price? Read on to find out, as we share our experiences in […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

[Updated] User manuals for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge now appearing online

For those who still need to wait a few weeks before finally receiving their shiny new Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, user manuals can add some fuel to the anticipation. Luckily, they are appearing online in many languages. For now, mainly the user manuals for the Galaxy S7 edge are available. You can find them in English (PDF), Spanish […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Samsung trademarks Gear Iconx, more Gear incoming

While the whole world is busy looking at Samsung's latest and greatest in Barcelona, the Galaxy S7 and Gear 360, the guys back home in Seoul have silently filed for protection of the trademark Gear Iconx. Sometimes, trademark filings reveal exactly what product the registration is for. With Gear Iconx this is, unfortunately, not the […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) with a 3,300 mAh battery hits FCC

The Galaxy J7 (2016) has paid a visit to the FCC, leaving behind the documentation of its 3,300 mAh battery. Recently, the 2016 iteration of the Galaxy J7 surfaced on several occasions. Specifications of the device were revealed in GFXBench's database, and certification at the Bluetooth SIG marked a major step towards its release. Now, with […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) review: great design, display, battery, mediocre camera

So here it is: Samsung's revamped Galaxy A5 (2016). With its premium design and build quality, practical features, and impressive battery life, this is one of the most interesting Galaxy phones this year. And we say that knowing full well the Galaxy S7 looms just around the corner. We've been using the device for several weeks […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Google Street View comes to the Gear VR unofficially with StreetView VR

StreetView VR brings one of the largest databases of 360 degree photography to Samsung's Gear VR headset. We took the app for a quick spin around the virtual block. Although StreetView VR is not made by Google, it does make the latter's Maps service, and Streetview in particular, easily accessible for those with a Gear VR. The idea […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Source code of Unpacked teaser page hints at Gear 360 launch

Earlier this week we confirmed Samsung will launch a 360 degree camera named Gear 360. A teaser page for the upcoming Unpacked event now indirectly confirms this. Those of us nerdy enough to, you know, read the source code of web pages rather than the accessible rendered versions, will find one very interesting tidbit in the […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Galaxy S7 edge confirmed by Samsung’s own website, new edge features shown

There has been little doubt about the existence of the upcoming Galaxy S7 edge (or its name). Still, confirmation of both by Samsung's own website is a welcome step towards the final launch. Samsung has recently added a new section about the edge screen functionality on its own website where the company distributes SDKs and other such […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Exclusive: Gear 360 virtual reality camera is real, to accompany the Galaxy S7

Only a few weeks ago, the first hints pointing to a new 360 degree camera named Gear 360 surfaced. Now, with only a few weeks until Samsung's next big Unpacked event, we can exclusively confirm the Gear 360 VR camera is real, and coming soon. The Gear 360, likely an offshoot of Samsung's Project Beyond, is a compact […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

How to boot your Samsung Galaxy device into Safe Mode

Unfortunately, it happens. You install a whole bunch of brand new apps on your smartphone and things suddenly start conflicting. Or you update your Galaxy, and now existing applications have become buggy. Or the battery drains faster than it did before. Or the camera app crashes. Or. Or. Or. Galaxy devices, like all other smartphones, are […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Patent application shows Samsung working on whispered voice recognition

A recently published patent application reveals how Samsung could implement whispered voice recognition in its smartphones. Courtesy of South Korea's intellectual property office comes a patent application that shows how Samsung envisions users whispering to their smartphones. Obviously, talking to a phone has become profoundly mainstream since Google Now, Siri and Cortana. Samsung's own S Voice has yet to […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Tip: What to do without notification LED on Galaxy A (2016) devices

As Samsung puts ever more upmarket specifications into its mid-range Galaxy devices, one nifty little feature remains exclusive to the expensive, high-end side of its portfolio. Amazingly, we're not talking about fingerprint readers here, nor about cameras with optical image stabilization. If you've read our Galaxy A5 (2016) preview, you know those are no longer exclusive […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Samsung receives a patent for smartphone cover with built-in S Pen

What if Samsung releases a smartphone cover that allows you to add an S Pen to any upcoming flagship device? That would reduce the much beloved Note series to an accessory. That would be pretty absurd. Or would it? Today, a patent published in South Korea shows us that Samsung is working towards that idea: an […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Samsung Galaxy A3 (2015) and Galaxy A5 (2016) preview

By now, all new models in Samsung's 2016 Galaxy A series are available at least somewhere. And thus we've managed to get our hands on them. Here are our first impressions of the Galaxy A3 (2016) and Galaxy A5 (2016). If you're into the larger devices, don't forget to head over to our preview of […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

Samsung launches exclusive themes for its new Galaxy A (2016) line-up

With a new phone come new accessoires. And also, apparently, new themes, as Samsung has launched a collection of themes exclusive to its new Galaxy A (2016) line-up. Last year, Samsung launched the theme store for its TouchWiz interface together with the Galaxy S6. Since then, more and more devices have launched with this feature, though some low-end […]

By Michel G.
9 years ago

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