Later this year Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Flip 4 and Fold 4 the successors of 2021’s foldable flagships. New rumours regarding Samsung’s 2022 foldable are now surfacing.
According to BusinessKorea, the Galaxy Fold 4 and Flip 4 will not feature an in-display fingerprint sensor but instead will sport a side-mounted scanner.
Reportedly, Samsung didn’t use the fingerprint scanner not because it doesn’t have the technology to do so, but because it believes the side-mounted scanner is more advantageous for the user experience.
Previous rumours indicate that the Flip 4 and Fold 4 would include an in-display, but that was based on a patent filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization.
It’s unclear when Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Fold 4 or Flip 4; however, we’re expecting the phone to launch in either August or September.
LONDON, UK – FEBRUARY 20, 2020: Samsung tech brand leterring logo in Harrods shopping mall.
Samsung phones with software dating back to Android 9 are vulnerable to a newly discovered security flaw that could allow hackers to reset phones, make phone calls, install apps, and more.
Mobile security and privacy company Kryptowire uncovered the flaw and reported it to Samsung earlier this year.
Android Police notes that Samsung delivered a patch for the flaw with the February 2022 security update. The update has already arrived on almost all recent Samsung phones, including down to the Galaxy S9. In other words, make sure your Samsung phone is fully updated to protect yourself from the security flaw.
According to details from Kryptowire, the security vulnerability exists within Samsung’s pre-installed phone app. The app ships on all Samsung handsets, although apparently the a Galaxy S8 running Android 8 wasn’t vulnerable to the attack — Kryptowire says that this requires more investigation, however.
Moreover, Kyrptowire was able to confirm the Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy A10e were impacted but specified the list wasn’t exhaustive. Instead, it’s intended to show that “a range of Android versions, models, and builds are verified to be vulnerable.”
Samsung’s phone app has privileged access to some underlying system features. Due to the flaw, it’s possible for other apps to hijack those privileges. Kryptowire says that apps that manage to hijack those privileges and take advantage of the flaw can factory reset your phone, make phone calls, install and uninstall apps, undermine HTTPS connections to websites, and more — Kryptowire says those are just limited examples of the potential.
Once again, the best thing Samsung phone owners can do is make sure they’re updated to the most recent software. The February 2022 security patch includes a fix for this flaw.
Reports coming out of South Korea suggest that Samsung wants to develop an application processor (AP) that will be “unique” to its line of Galaxy smartphones.
Up until now, Samsung’s flagship devices have used either Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset or Samsung Electronics LSI’s Exynos chipset, but new information from a Samsung townhall indicates a new chipset might be powering future Galaxy smartphones.
According to the South Korean publication iNews24, an employee questioned Samsung Mobile President TM Roh about the recent GOS app throttling debacle and how the company aims to resolve it, to which Roh replied that Samsung will “make an AP unique to the Galaxy.”
If materialized, the move will bring Samsung closer to Apple and Google, both of whom make chips exclusive to their devices. While Exynos maker Samsung Electronics LSI is Samsung Mobile’s subsidiary, its Exynos chips aren’t exclusive to Samsung devices like Tensor is to Pixel or the A15 is to the iPhone 13.
On the other hand, a report from BusinessKorea suggests that Samsung might deploy MediaTek’s mobile application processors to the upcoming Galaxy S22 FE and the Galaxy S23. Samsung has used MediaTek’s chipsets in the past, though it has been limited to the company’s budget and entry-level smartphones, and the flagships have always retained Qualcomm or Exynos chipsets.
Up until February, Samsung phones were vulnerable to a security flaw that could allow hackers to gain access to your device.
According to the Mobile Application Security Testing tool’s maker Kryptowire, a newly found vulnerability, ‘CVE-2022-22292,’ affects all Samsung smartphones running Android 9 to Android 12. Kryptowire says that once a device is infected, hackers can delete all the user data from the smartphone, make phone calls, install and uninstall apps, and even weaken the device’s overall security, leaving it vulnerable to more attacks.
Kryptowire reported the vulnerability to Samsung on November 27th, 2021, and subsequently, a “high” severity rating was given to the vulnerability.
Android 9 to Android 12 running devices have a pre-installed phone app that has been labelled an “insecure component.” The component has system privileges, and bad apps can use the component to perform admin-level operations without user authorization.
KryptoWire adds that Samsung patched the vulnerability in February 2022 as part of its ongoing Security Maintenance Release (SMR) process. Samsung smartphone users are advised to make sure that their device has received the February security update.
Both devices will be available for purchase online at Samsung, Best Buy, and Amazon. Those who buy the Galaxy Book2 Pro or Pro 360 from Samsung between April 1st and 15th will also get 50 percent off the purchase of Galaxy Buds Pro in the ‘Phantom Black’ colour. Additionally, customers who order a Galaxy Book2 Pro or Pro 360 during this time will get a free Samsung Bluetooth mouse.
The Galaxy Book2 Pro starts at $1,599.99 for the 15.6-inch screen variant with an Intel i5-1240P CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage.
The Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 starts at $1,469.99 for the 13.3-inch screen variant with an Intel i5-1240P CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage.
Customers can choose alternate configurations as well, adding extra RAM or storage, bumping up the CPU to an Intel i7-1260P, or changing the screen size.
You can learn more or check out all the configurations of the Galaxy Book2 Pro and Pro 360 here.
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Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 3 is a phenomenal handset, but there’s definitely room for improvement. According to a well-known tipster, it doesn’t look like we’ll get that evolution we want in the Galaxy Fold 4, unfortunately.
I'm more concerned about the Fold4, which, in Samsung's style, won't easily change the design to keep costs to a minimum unless its market share is threatened. Fold4 may be just Fold3s, or Fold2ss
According to Ice Universe, the Fold 4 won’t have a design change from the Fold 3. Instead of a large jump like the Fold 3 in comparison to the Fold 2, the Fold 4 will be more like a minimal update.
The Galaxy Fold 4 isn’t the only foldable that will make an appearance this year. Rumours indicate that Samsung will also launch the Galaxy Flip 4 and another surprise Galaxy device with a flexible display.
LONDON, UK – FEBRUARY 20, 2020: Samsung tech brand leterring logo in Harrods shopping mall.
This summer Samsung will likely have another Unpacked event unveiling its new foldable lineup. We’re expecting to see the successors to the Galaxy Z Flip 3, and Galaxy Z Fold 3, but this August might have another surprise in store. Leaks indicate there’s a new foldable on the horizon.
The news comes from Galaxy Club, which confirmed the third device on the way. Galaxy Club found three new codenames, B4, Q4 and N4. We know that B4 is the Z Flip 4, and Q4 is the Z Fold 4, so what’s left is this mysterious N4.
At CES 2022, Samsung unveiled some of the flexible displays it’s working on, including a ‘Flex S’ tri-folding phone that can fold both in and out of an S form. This allows a smartphone to fold into a large tablet. The Flex G, on the other hand, is more compact, but is also a tri-folding and folds inwards so that no part of the display is visible when fully folded.
Additionally, on Samsung’s OLED website, the company showcases other foldable glass displays it’s working on. The South Korean company’s site shows the Flex Square which is the Z Fold 3 foldable display method, the Flex Bar, which is the Z Flip 3’s style of folding. There’s also a Flex Note, which looks like a foldable tablet.
Samsung is also working on other flexible displays as well, such as rollable screens and slideable panels.
Leaker Ice Universe, on the other hand, confirmed that the Fold 4 and the Flip 4 will feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus processor. This chipset hasn’t been announced yet, which means that these handsets will be even more powerful than the smartphones currently on the market.
Samsung’s Galaxy A12 was reportedly the world’s best-selling smartphone in 2021, according to research firm Omdia. The small-budget phone sold 51.8 million units last year, at a price of $160 USD (roughly $200 CAD).
It’s worth noting that the numbers don’t really account for Canada as the Galaxy A12 isn’t available here yet. According to the Canadian Samsung Store, the phone is “coming soon” to Canada, which is strange considering the device is a year old at this point. That said, the A12 is available at third-party retailers and on Amazon Canada for $249.
Samsung’s only other device that made it to the top 10 best-sold phones was the Galaxy A02; another phone not officially available in Canada. The Redmi 9A is the most affordable device costing about $78 USD (roughly $98), another Android device that’s not available in Canada.
As fewer Android devices sell in Canada, more Canadians are buying iPhones. The only three Android devices on the list are not sold in Canada, which is an indicator of what Canadians are buying. However, if this were a Canadian-focused list, Apple’s iPhone would likely hold several top slots.
LONDON, UK – FEBRUARY 20, 2020: Samsung tech brand leterring logo in Harrods shopping mall.
Samsung has apologized to shareholders about recent problems surrounding the company.
According to DigiTimes, JH Ha, Samsung’s device experience division CEO, “bowed in apology” to shareholders at a March 16th meeting about the Game Optimization Service (GOS) problems on the Galaxy S22 series.
DigiTimes reports Han apologized for not understanding customer concerns on the app.
A second concern addressed by executives was problems with the sub-5nm process yield rates.
Kyehyun Kyung, CEO of the devices solutions division, said Samsung is working on improving process yield rates but said creating chips in a foundry is complex and takes time.
DigiTimes reports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has only a 35 percent yield. The chip functions in various products, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+.
Samsung’s ‘Awesome’ series is full of mid-range smartphones, and now the company has two new additions to its lineup. Although Samsung announced two new devices, the Galaxy A53 and A33, it seems that only the A53 is coming to Canada.
The Galaxy A53 features a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and reduced blue light so your eyes can stay comfortable while looking at your phone.
Samsung emphasized the smartphone’s sound quality, stating that it’s louder than before and supports Dolby Atmos.
The mid-range smartphone features four cameras on the rear with a 12-megapixel ultrawide shooter, 64-megapixel sensor, 5-megapixel depth shooter and another 5-megapixel sensor with a macro lens. The A53 sports a 32-megapixel selfie shooter on its Infinity-O display alongside the quad cameras on the back.
The phone also offers 6GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage up to 1TB.
The handset sports a 5,000mAh battery with 25W Super Fast charging. However, in a first for the A series, the device lacks a charging brick in the box. Samsung claims the A53 can last for two days, but we’ll need to try it out to find out if that claim is accurate.
Other features include 5G with supported carriers, Android 12, One UI 4.1 and IP67 water and dust resistance.
The Galaxy A53 is available for pre-order now in its Awesome Black colour variant with the phone officially launching on April 1st. If you pre-order the Galaxy A53 between now and March 31st at Samsung, you’ll also get a free Galaxy Buds Live.
