Verizon's Galaxy Note 4 is only now receiving the Android 5.1.1 update

Seemingly wanting to confirm that "better late than never" saying, Verizon has only now decided to release the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop update for its version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

The flagship phablet from 2014 has actually been on the receiving end of this update ever since August of 2015, but that's for internationally sold unlocked units. As always, if you buy yours from a carrier you can wait a lot more.



Case in point, here we are in January 2016, a few months after Google's launched Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and Big Red is sending out Android 5.1.1 to the Note 4. Anyway, after applying the update you'll be on software version LMY47X.N910VVRU2BOK3.

As this is an over-the-air rollout, it may be a few days before it reaches your phone and you get that update notification. If you're impatient, you can manually check for the new software's availability by using the dedicated menu inside Settings. This update adds things, but also removes others - namely, the Amazon Appstore and Amazon Widgets will be gone after the installation.

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Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016) leaks in renders now

The Samsung Galaxy J1 successor, which has allegedly already cleared the FCC hurdle in the US, will come in at-least black, white, and gold color options, according to new renders leaked by the usually reliable leakster @evleaks.

Samsung announces Q4 2015 earnings guidance; Y-o-Y profits grow

Samsung Electronics has announced earnings guidance for the fourth quarter of the year 2015. The company forecasted an operating profit of 6.1 trillion Korean won (around $5.08 billion), which is up around 15% compared to the 5.3 trillion won figure the company reported in Q4 2014.


However, compared to Q3 2015, when the company reported a profit of 7.4 trillion won, the profit was down around 18%. The forecast also missed market expectations - analysts were expecting the company to report a profit of around 6.6 trillion won.

Overall sales revenues are forecasted to be around 53.0 trillion won (around $46.4 billion), slightly up from the 52.7 trillion won figure reported in the same quarter of the year 2014. Samsung is expected to release final figures towards the end of this month.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 reaches 4.5 million sales in a month and still up

According to South Korean outlet News1 the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has hit 4.5 million sales globally about a month after its launch (it launched September 26). That's a little lower than the 5 million units its predecessor sold in its first month, but the Galaxy Note 3 got a wider release initially.

The Galaxy Note 4 started off in South Korea and China and has been expanding its availability ever since. It started selling in the US only recently. The flagship phablet also experienced some delays in markets like the UK and India where sales started a week ago. As for China, Samsung rolled out the dual-SIM versions only a couple of days ago.

The 4.5 million number doesn't seem to include the Galaxy Note Edge, Note 4's sibling with a two-sided screen, which is only now going on sale and in just a few markets.

The Galaxy Note 4 may have hit a few bumps on the way out but Samsung needed a best seller as its Q3 earnings declined.

Samsung Galaxy A7 1080p screen, a new 64-bit processor confirmed

Last month there was some confusion about the screen resolution of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A7, some sources said 720p others 1080p. A leaked User Agent Profile confirms the 1080p number for the SM-A700FD, which is a dual-SIM version of the device. The screen will have a 5.5" diagonal, giving it 400ppi pixel density, up from Galaxy Alpha's 312ppi.

The profile also reveals that the Galaxy A7 will have a 64-bit processor (ARMv8-A instruction set) and will be clocked at 1.5GHz.

Samsung launches the Galaxy Mega 2 in India

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 has reached India today. Samsung has officially launched the mid-range phablet in the subcontinent. This comes after the Mega 2 has previously gone on sale in Malaysia, and got listed on the official Samsung website in Thailand. In the US, AT&T is due to start offering it today too.

Over in India, the Galaxy Mega 2 is already available to buy from Samsung's own online store. It's priced at INR 20,900, which means about $341 or €269.

It's being offered in both white and black, and the store says it does currently have sufficient stock.

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 comes with a 6-inch 720p touchscreen, an 8 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 5 MP front snapper, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, as well as microSD card support.

A 1.2 GHz quad-core processor runs things, and dual-SIM support is built in, although in terms of mobile data connectivity the Mega 2 tops out at 21Mbps HSDPA. It also has Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 2,800 mAh battery. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat.

Leak details where the Galaxy S5 Active will land in Europe

The Samsung Galaxy S5 Active is coming soon to Europe, that much has been made abundantly clear by some recent leaks. When exactly that will happen is still quite a mystery, but today we get to find out more about the 'where'.

That is, which places in Europe will be lucky enough to get the rugged version of the Galaxy S5 on sale. This list is based on firmware versions for the phone, spotted on Samsung's servers. There's a chance that more firmware packages will be added later, so this list may not be exhaustive.

So, the Galaxy S5 Active should make it to Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, France, Switzerland, Poland, Slovenia, Germany, Italy, the UK, the Nordic countries, and the Baltics. Note though that in Norway it may be exclusive to Telenor.

Samsung unveils Galaxy S5 Plus with Snapdragon 805

With a quiet whisper Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S5 Plus – a Snapdragon 805 version of the company's 2014 flagship. This is the small late season upgrade, similar to the Galaxy S4 LTE-A that launched late last year. Just like its predecessor the new Plus model brings a faster LTE connection in addition to the improved performance.

The Galaxy S5 originally launched with the Snapdragon 801 chipset that included a 2.5GHz quad-core processor. The new processor is also at 2.5GHz but it's a new core – Krait 450. The chipset also has a new generation GPU – Adreno 420 – breaking away from the 3xx series.

will Samsung Gear VR launch on December 1?

The Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headset could finally be released on December 1, at least in South Korea. That’s what a leaked document, purported to have originated at Samsung’s customer service department, claims.

Furthermore, we even get a price to speak of. In Samsung’s home country, the Gear VR will apparently go for KRW 200,000 (which is approximately $187 or €148 at the current exchange rates).

Samsung Galaxy A7 has 1080p screen, A5 will be go out in November

Samsung's upcoming 'A series' of smartphones has been in the news a lot lately, with leaks coming left and right. This usually signifies an announcement arriving in the near future, and that could be just what's going to happen in this case.

According to a new rumor, the Galaxy A5 will already be in stores in November. If that's going to pan out, then we may see it get officially unveiled later this month. As previously leaked, the A5 should cost around $400-450 without a contract.

Samsung issues statement about the new Galaxy Note 4 gap issue!

Some early Samsung Galaxy Note 4 adopters reported an imperfect construction on their flagship phablets – a business card fits in the gap between the screen and the metal frame. Now Samsung has come out with an official statement on the matter but it's mostly PR talk.

"The reported issue does not impact the functionality or quality of the Galaxy Note 4. We assure our customers that all Galaxy Note 4 units meet our strict manufacturing and quality control standards," reads Samsung's statement sent to Trusted Reviews.

Galaxy S5 and Note 4 may get Android L by early December

Android L is undoubtedly going to be released by Google before the end of this year, and as more time passes you might be inclined to ask yourself when or if your particular device will get updated. With Samsung's Galaxy S5 and Note 4, it's clearly not a matter of 'if', as they will both surely receive the new OS version.

Here comes the first rumor on the matter. Apparently you should expect rollouts to commence either in late November or in early December. That would be pretty fast for Samsung, even if Google pushes out the new bits tomorrow.

However, there's no release date for Android L to speak of right now. But it looks like Samsung may be working towards having updates ready sooner than usual. This may of course have something to do with the recent moves by some of Samsung's competitors. Last year, HTC and Motorola were both reasonably fast with updates to Android 4.4 KitKat (Motorola far more than HTC).

Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge benchmark on Antutu

We saw it with previous generations of Galaxy flagships – equalized scores despite very different chipsets. This year the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge will come with either a Snapdragon 805 or an Exynos 5433 SoC and their AnTuTu scores are practically equal.

The new Samsung N915L, aka Galaxy Note Edge with Exynos, scored just under 48,000 points while the Samsung N910S, aka Galaxy Note 4 with Snapdragon, got just over 48,000 points. The benchmark seems to show negligible difference in multi-core performance and RAM speed.

Galaxy Note 4 world launch date

If you're still wondering when to expect the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 on store shelves in your particular country, this is clearly for you. The Korean company has posted an image of a map with a release timeline attached to it on its Facebook page.

By quickly scanning it, you'll be able to know whether you'll see the Note 4 in your country by November 5, or if you'll have to wait some more.

It is true however that in some territories (such as Europe) those dots are very much obscuring the places they're on top of, so for certain countries the Note 4's release date may still require a guessing game. And it doesn't help that some of the dots have incredibly similar colors.