Founded in 1938, Samsung is the largest chaebol in South Korea. The myriad of companies under its brand are some of the biggest in their respective industries, but Samsung Electronics is the most notable. It makes some of the most popular phones in use today, and its flagship portfolio includes the Galaxy S-series and foldable Z-series devices. It also makes televisions, tablets, computers, headphones, and many of the displays, chips, and batteries found in devices from Apple, Sony, and others.
Owners of older Samsung TVs, even 2024 flagships, will have to wait to experience Netflix in HDR10 Plus for improved tone and brightness levels. According to Samsung:
HDR10+ content on Netflix will be accessible on 2025 Samsung Neo QLED, OLED and Lifestyle TVs — as well as 2025 and 2024 monitor models — with support for additional models in the future.
Hopefully “the future” isn’t too far away.
Samsung has temporarily shuffled its leadership team following the death of co-CEO Jong-Hee Han, while it hunts for a long-term replacement. TM Roh, who’s headed up the company’s Mobile Experience (MX) division since 2020, becomes acting head of Device Experience (DX), which covers mobile but also TVs, home appliances, and more.
Roh has overseen a period in which Samsung has lost mobile marketshare and produced increasingly iterative devices, so his promotion may not prove popular.
[news.samsung.com]
Samsung TV owners belting out their favorite tunes using the Stingray Karaoke app can now reach for their smartphones to level up their performance. The Samsung SmartThings app can turn smartphones — including Samsung Galaxy S22, S23, S2, and S25 models and the iPhone 15 and 16 — into a wireless microphone.
TVs supporting the Mobile Microphone feature include certain 2025 Samsung smart TV models like the Neo QLED and The Frame.
Correction, April 2nd: An earlier version of this article misstated that the Stingray Karaoke app turns smartphones into microphones. It is the Samsung SmartThings mobile app.
Excellent rant from Jeff Geerling about lazy — or worse, exploitative — home appliance companies that insist on cloud connections to enable basic features. And it’s only getting worse with initiatives like “Screens Everywhere” from companies like Samsung and LG.
This trend away from physical buttons introduces privacy and security concerns, the prospect of costly repairs, and the perfect foundation for advertisements and subscriptions — maybe not now, but certainly when profits are threatened by, oh, I don’t know... global trade wars.
Reuters, Chosun Biz, and other outlets report that Samsung confirmed the executive died on Tuesday in Seoul after suffering a heart attack over the weekend.
Jong-Hee (JH) Han, who had been scheduled to give a keynote speech at Samsung’s Bespoke AI event later this week, was named co-CEO at the end of 2021, overseeing its consumer electronics and mobile devices division. Han joined Samsung’s TV development team in 1988, eventually leading it as the world’s number one TV brand for 19 consecutive years, reports Yonhap.
On Monday, Samsung family scion and chair Lee Jae-yong (aka, Jay Y. Lee) said the company is facing “a do-or-die survival issue.” Today its executive leadership doubled-down on promises to better compete globally at its annual meeting. These five charts compiled by the Financial Times explain the urgency:
That’s a quote from Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong (aka, Jay Y. Lee), delivered in a message sent to a few thousand executives undergoing education seminars, according to Yonhap’s sources. Last year, it was reported that Samsung shifted executives to a six-day workweek to “inject a sense of crisis” after falling behind in AI semiconductors. More recently, TVs, smartphones, and lucrative DRAM sales have also seen declining market shares.
The company is planning to offer Galaxy Store developers an 80 / 20 revenue share on games beginning May 15th. Currently, it’s 70 / 30. According to Seline Sangsook Han, Samsung EVP of Mobile Service Business:
“The new 80/20 revenue share model will apply to all paid games, apps and in-app purchases generated and received through Galaxy Store. For subscription services and in-app purchases made through these services, the revenue share model will be 85/15.”
Samsung says that users can test the One UI 7 beta on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 in India, Korea, the UK, and the US beginning March 6th. This month, the beta will also be available on Galaxy S23 series smartphones, Tab S10 series tablets, and A55 phones, Samsung says.
The update is set to officially launch in April.
[news.samsung.com]
YouTuber Alexis Garza showed off what he said is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung’s unreleased ultra-slim phone, in a video posted (and later removed) today.
Garza compared its thickness with an unfolded Galaxy Z Fold 6 and showed specs that included 12GB RAM, a 4,000mAh battery, and dual 12MP rear cameras, though the AIDA64 app he used may have had that last part wrong, according to Android Authority.
Update February 22nd: The video has been removed.
While everyone was busy looking at the new iPhone 16E, Samsung Chile accidentally confirmed the existence of the Korean company’s own affordable rival phones. The Galaxy A56, A36, and A26 are all currently listed on an out-of-warranty repairs page, as spotted by SamMobile. That confirms three new phones are on the way, and almost certainly arriving soon.
[samsung.com]
Yesterday leaker Evan Blass shared renders of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy A56, and today he’s followed up with the similar looking Galaxy A36. It has the same redesigned camera module and raised power and volume button island.
We’re more confident the A36 will launch Stateside — while the A55 skipped the US, the A35 launched as the best phone for under $400.
But at $70, Samsung’s new Galaxy S25 Crocs case is more expensive than Crocs for your feet.
There’s something very familiar about this year’s S-series phones.
Sure, the S Pen lost its Bluetooth features with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. But you know what hasn’t changed? It still smells kinda bad. I confirmed this myself when I unboxed the phone in San Jose, and have verified with another colleague who remarked that it smells “plasticky.” And guess what? That’s not even the only thing that stinks about it.
Instead of having to fuss with a pull tab that’s supposed to release the battery from its adhesive, Samsung secured the S25 Ultra’s battery with tape, as shown in this teardown from JerryRigEverything. Now you can simply peel back the tape covering the battery and then lift it out — no isopropyl alcohol required.
