Samsung
Higher Snapdragon 8 Elite costs mean pricier Galaxy S25
Samsung Galaxy S25 series could be pricier than its predecessor. The upcoming flagship lineup will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which is expected to be more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy used in the S24 Ultra.
Weibo tipster DCS claimed a price hike in the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. This is due to TSMC’s cutting-edge 3nm process technology. MediaTek’s upcoming Dimensity 9400 flagship SoC could also be more pricey than its predecessor.
Last year, Qualcomm indicated that the 2024 Snapdragon chip would be more expensive. The latest leak aligns with the company’s indication, denoting an increase of around 20% in the pricing of the next Snapdragon due to a switch to TSMC’s 3nm process.
Samsung Foundry is in crisis due to unstable 3nm yields. Exynos 2500 could not be used in the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus coming next year. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is said to cost $190, while the Dimensity 9400 could cost $155.
The leaker added that this was just an approximate pricing, which may be different from the official costs. Also, Samsung would get “for Galaxy” of Snapdragon 8 Elite, which may have a different pricing strategy as per their multi-year agreement.
Anyways, this would reduce Samsung’s negotiation power with Qualcomm due to complete reliance. The same happened in 2023 with the Galaxy S23 series. The South Korean tech giant solely used Snapdragon chipsets.
Qualcomm will be using its own developed Oryon CPU in the next Snapdragon. The chipset will offer significantly improved CPU and GPU performance over the 8 Gen 3. We’ve got an idea of what’s coming in recent Geekbench listings.
Samsung officially launched the Galaxy Watch’s Irregular heart rhythm notification feature in Taiwan. Samsung’s Health Monitor app has received approval from Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration for its irregular heart rhythm feature.
Irregular heart rhythm feature is now officially available in Taiwan, supporting Galaxy Watch 4 series and later models, as well as Samsung smartphones running Android 9 Pie or later operating systems.
After software updates, this feature, when combined with the app’s existing manual ECG detection function, can actively track heart rhythms related to atrial fibrillation (AFib) from the wearer’s wrist, helping users build a healthier lifestyle.
Cardiovascular disease remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and atrial fibrillation is a type of irregular heartbeat widely considered a warning sign of serious cardiovascular problems.
It can increase the risk of stroke, heart failure, and other cardiovascular complications. However, since some cases of atrial fibrillation have no symptoms or even no signs, many patients are unaware of their risk.
Samsung Galaxy Watch is equipped with precise BioActive sensors, allowing users to gain a deeper understanding of their health. The One UI 6 Watch update is pending, which could land on your watch in October or November.
After activating the Health Monitor app, this feature will use sensors to check for abnormal heart rhythms and promptly alert users to potential AFib activity, reminding them to conduct an ECG check using their watch for more accurate data.
Epic Games suing Samsung and Google over One UI’s Auto Blocker feature. The company alleges that the default activation of One UI’s Auto Blocker feature is an illegal conspiracy to help Google maintain its dominance in the Android app market.
Samsung has dismissed claims made by Epic Games, stating that the Auto Blocker feature is designed for user security and privacy. It doesn’t have any motive to benefit Google to maintain its monopoly as it can be easily disabled by the user for sideloading.
“It’s about unfair competition by misleading users into thinking competitors’ products are inferior to the company’s products themselves,” Epic Chief Executive Tim Sweeney told reporters.
Epic Games previously won a lawsuit against Google over antitrust issues in the app market. The company argues that Samsung’s pre-enabled Auto Blocker circumvents the remedies ordered by the US district court following the jury’s verdict.
“The features integrated into its devices are designed in accordance with Samsung’s core principles of security, privacy, and user control, and we remain fully committed to safeguarding users’ personal data,” Samsung said in the statement.
Epic Games plans to initiate the lawsuit in the US and is considering legal options or regulatory policy measures in Korea. Epic wants Samsung to stop shipping Auto Blocker enabled or adopt a reasonable whitelisting process.
In late 2023, Samsung debuted the Auto Blocker as a new security feature. With the One UI 6.1 update, the company enabled it by default. It restricts app installation from sources other than Google’s Play Store or its own Galaxy Store.
September 2024 is about to end and Samsung is now rolling out a new update for the Galaxy S23 series, which reportedly addresses the camera zoom issue of One UI 6.1.1. After the last major update, users faced camera issues with their smartphones.
Following the release of One UI 6.1.1, several Samsung Galaxy S23 users reported issues with the zoom feature of the camera. When trying to zoom in between 16x and 19.9x while using Intelligent Optimization at maximum, the quality of photos dropped significantly.
The camera zoom issue led to frustration among users and prompted Samsung to pause the rollout of the One UI 6.1.1 update until the issues could be fixed.
Now, the new September 2024 update for the Samsung Galaxy S23 series resolves this camera zoom issue. It is reportedly allowing users to enjoy better photo quality when using the zoom feature.
In addition to fixing the camera issues, this update also includes important security patches to help protect your device from potential threats. Also, it updates some stock apps to the latest available version.
Users of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra can identify the latest software update through One UI build version S91xNKSU4CXI1. The installation package size of this update is around 380MB.
The fresh update is currently rolling out for Samsung Galaxy S23 models in Korea and the company will expand it soon to more countries. It’s recommended to download and install this update to benefit from the improvements in camera functionality and to ensure your device is secure.
To check and install the update, open Settings >> Software Update >> Download and install.
One UI 6.1.1 defects Galaxy S23 camera, Samsung readying quick patch