Samsung Galaxy Note 9: live news and updates from the Unpacked event – The Verge

How to preorder the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

2018-08-10T10:10:23-04:00

If you want a big, powerful Android phone that can run Fortnite exclusively for a while, you can reserve your Samsung Galaxy Note 9 right now from a variety of retailers.

The phone will officially release on August 24th. No matter your carrier, you can redeem preorder bonuses through the Samsung Shop app, so long as you preorder before 8/23. This will include either a set of AKG noise-canceling headphones ($299 value) or 15,000 V-bucks ($150 value), which is Fortnite's in-game currency. You can also buy both of them for $99. You have until September 13th to upload your proof of preorder purchase through the Samsung Shop app to claim the goo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung made a fast new dual wireless charger that props up your phone

2018-08-09T16:50:19-04:00

Samsung has a new dual wireless charger that seems designed for its new Note 9 and Galaxy Watch. The Wireless Charger Duo has two charging pads, with a flat area meant for the new Galaxy smartwatch and a propped up charging spot for keeping a phone display visible during a charge.

Each charging pad has 12W of charging power, so both pads will support fast charging from Samsung or any other phone vendor. Together, the two pads resemble one of Samsung's propped up charging pads glued together with one of its flat charging pads. While Samsung already sells another dual wireless charger, that one has two flat charging pads. This is the first du …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung’s Fortnite exclusive will expire before the Note 9 even launches

2018-08-09T16:33:42-04:00

Fortnite is making its way to Android, but not until Samsung device owners get a stab at it first… for a measly couple of days. At the Samsung Unpacked event on Thursday, the Fortnite team announced that Samsung users will be on the receiving end of an unusually short exclusive, ending well before the Galaxy Note 9 is released near the end of the month.

In the next few days, the game will be made available for all other supported Android devices, so Pixel users and others won't have to wait too long to start building forts and cracking open pink llama piñatas. According to a spokesperson for Epic Games, the company has yet to disclose exact …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Bixby 2.0’s debut on the Note 9 lets users make restaurant reservations and order Ubers

2018-08-09T12:11:12-04:00

Samsung announced today at its Unpacked 2018 event that its new Galaxy Note 9 will arrive with Bixby 2.0. It will be Samsung's first smartphone device that will have an upgraded version of Bixby out of the box, which the company says will be better at processing natural language, predicting user needs, and offering quicker response times.

Samsung demoed some of Bixby's new skills onstage, showing that it's now possible to have more natural conversations with it. If, for example, you asked Bixby about what concerts are happening in Brooklyn over Labor Day weekend, you could then follow up with another question like "What about the first week …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung is partnering with Spotify across its devices

2018-08-09T12:07:56-04:00

Samsung has announced that it's entering a long-term partnership with Spotify, including support for the just-announced Galaxy Home smart speaker.

The partnership is described as one that will span all of Samsung's devices from phones to TVs to speakers. It seems like a deeper, more integrated version of the existing Spotify Connect feature that the company already offers for Samsung's hardware.

Spotify is now part of the setup experience on Samsung devices, and Spotify and Samsung accounts will eventually be able to be linked for smart home integration with Samsung's SmartThings app. Spotify will also become the default music option for B …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung adds Bluetooth to the Galaxy Note 9’s S Pen, making it more powerful than ever

2018-08-09T11:35:02-04:00

The Galaxy Note 9 is here, and like every Galaxy Note device before it, one of the highlights of the Note 9 is the thing that separates it from most other smartphones: the S Pen stylus.

This time around, Samsung is upgrading the S Pen in a big way: it's adding Bluetooth Low Energy, turning the stylus from a mere note-taking accessory into a full-fledged remote control for your phone.

The S Pen gets supercharged for the Note 9 with Bluetooth

As the original rumors suggested, the addition of Bluetooth adds a ton of new tricks to the S Pen. You can use it as a remote camera shutter, a presentation remote with Samsung's DeX, and for music contr …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Fortnite for Android is launching today exclusively on recent Samsung Galaxy devices

2018-08-09T11:31:00-04:00

One of the worst-kept secrets in gaming has turned out to be true: the Android version of Fortnite will be available exclusively on Samsung devices at launch. But it's not just the new Note 9 and Tab S4 getting Fortnite; owners of a range of recent Samsung devices - the S9 / S9 Plus, Note 8, Galaxy S8 / S8 Plus, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, and Tab S3 - can all start playing the beta today. You'll be able to install Fortnite from either Samsung's Game Launcher app or Epic's new installer, both available here.

The official announcement from Samsung comes after a handful of reports pointed to the possibility, most recently following a leak of t …

Read the full story at The Verge.