Articles about Samsung

When you are either building a desktop or upgrading a laptop, one of the first things you should focus on is the SSD. This drive will hold your precious data -- it is not the component where you should try and save money. Even if it costs a bit more, it is totally worth spending on a reliable brand.

For solid state drives, Samsung is one of the best such brands. While its drives can be a bit pricey, you get what you pay for. Today, that company announces that the budget-focused 750 EVO SSD is gaining a 500GB option to go along with 120GB and 250GB. Even better, the SATA drive is getting wider availability starting in June. Yes, the SSD is leaving the confines of emerging markets and heading to major ones, such as the USA, China, Europe, and Korea.

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Each new generation of Android flagships seems to push the limits of what we consider high-end hardware specifications. A few years ago we were looking at sub-5-inch displays with 720p resolutions and dual-core processors with 2 GB of RAM, and nowadays larger, 2K displays backed by octa-core chips and 4 GB of RAM appear to be the norm.

While the bump in resolution and processor speed may not be as noticeable when moving to a new-generation flagship, the extra RAM is certainly a welcome addition. Of course, for some companies not even 4 GB is enough in this department, as Samsung just unveiled a larger module, which should be available in its next flagships.

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Global smartphone sales figures published by Gartner show that Windows-based devices have a market share of just 0.7 percent. The latest figures cover the first quarter of 2016 and reveal that fewer than 2.4 million handsets with Microsoft's OS installed were sold.

This is a dramatic drop from the first quarter of 2015. A year ago the numbers were hardly earth-shattering, but with a 2.5 percent market share they were decidedly healthier than right now. While Windows Phone continues to drop like a stone, Android's seemingly unstoppable rise continues, with Google increasing its market share from 78.88 percent a year ago to 84.1 percent in Q1 2016. Apple suffered a drop to 14.8 percent.

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I love shopping in brick and mortar stores (except Walmart and Dollar General). No matter what I am buying -- shoes, clothes, food, technology -- I have a blast. My favorite aspect of shopping, however, is getting deals. Spending money is certainly not one of my favorite things, but if I get a discounted sale, it makes the experience much more satisfying.

Unfortunately, many stores require membership and loyalty cards to get the lower prices. These pieces of plastic can accumulate quickly, becoming unwieldy in a wallet or purse. Digital payment solutions should alleviate this dilemma. Apple Pay recently introduced support for Kohls loyalty cards. Today, Samsung Pay is getting membership and loyalty card support too.

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Even though it is not Apple's most important product, Apple Watch is actually a market leader. In Q1 2016 shipments totaled 1.5 million units, according to a new IDC report, making it the undisputed king of this market.

Apple Watch actually holds a healthy lead over its Samsung-made rivals, having a market share of 46 percent as opposed to 20.9 percent share for the second place player. As you can see, the market as a whole is rather small, with total shipments of just 3.2 million units in an entire quarter.

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For a while there was a scary trend of Android manufacturers shying away from expandable storage. Thankfully, consumer demand largely reversed that course. Many of the newest flagships, such as the HTC 10 and Samsung Galaxy S7, are embracing microSD cards. The versatile card format is utilized in many other types of devices too.

Today, Samsung announces the class-leading EVO Plus 256GB MicroSD Card. If you recently bought SanDisk's 200GB card, you no longer have the largest. With that said, the price tag for this 256GB card is rather high -- more than double SanDisk's 200GB offering.

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LG today announced that the US government has certified its G5 and V10 flagship Android smartphones for enterprise and military use. The testing was conducted by the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), which verifies the compliance of products with the "Common Criteria" international security standard, which is said to be recognized by 25 countries.

Although LG is only boasting about the two aforementioned handsets, NIAP's test results show that G4, its flagship from last year, is also fit for use in enterprise and military sectors, when running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. NIAP's stamp of approval was received on April 14.

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Samsung makes amazing products, and I'm not just talking about smartphones and tablets. I have one of its 4K televisions in my house, not to mention a washing machine and clothes dryer. These things work wonderfully, and create memorable experiences -- I recommend them highly.

Today, Samsung announces immediate availability of its smart refrigerator. What has historically been a large box designed to keep food and drinks cold, can be so much more. Its Family Hub fridge has a huge touchscreen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and can communicate with your smartphone. It even has a built-in web browser!

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In just two months, Marshmallow has more than doubled its usage share in the Android market, thanks to the introduction of new devices and the availability of more software updates for older but popular handsets.

According to Google's latest figures, which are based on data collected during the seven days ending March 7, 7.5 percent of Android devices now run Marshmallow. When I last covered the distribution numbers in March, its usage share was at just 2.3 percent and it looked like its rise towards the top would be a very slow one.

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The Internet of Things, or IoT, has been both a blessing and a bain since it came into existence. Does convenience trump security concerns? That's the question each user has to ask his or herself. It's that security part that tends to make the news.

The latest to suffer a setback is Samsung SmartThings, with a new report claiming the platform has a security problem. The vulnerabilities reported are only hypothetical so far however.

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Minecraft is a surprisingly popular game. The design pays homage to block-like graphics of games from earlier days -- a time when a large amount of Minecraft fans weren't even born! We have the technology to make more lifelike environments, with curved edges and circles, but that would be blasphemy to the Minecraft community. "What's old is new" as some folks say, I suppose.

Today, The Oculus Team announces that it has worked with Microsoft to bring Minecraft to Samsung's smartphone-powered virtual reality platform, the Gear VR. Owners of this solution can now experience a more-immersive Minecraft experience, by leveraging Samsung's heasdset and a third-party controller.

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The global value of contactless payment market will reach almost $100 billion by 2018, a new study by market analysts Juniper Research says.

According to the research, entitled Contactless Payment: NFC Handsets, Wearables & Payment Cards 2016 - 2020, the market will hit $95 billion in two years, up from $35 billion in 2015.

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There's no shortage of connected devices on the market these days and more seem to come along almost daily. The problem, to an extent, is interoperability. That's improving somewhat as devices are starting to play nice with other systems.

Now SmartThings, one of the more popular offerings on the market, is introducing new products to its UK line. Both are from Belkin, which makes the WeMo line.

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Samsung Pay made its debut last year in South Korea in August and then launched in the US in September. At the end of 2015, the company announced that it was bringing its mobile payment service to China.

After a one month beta period, Samsung Pay is now available for local users with a Galaxy S6 edge Plus, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge.

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Other than Apple Watch, smartwatches can't be luxurious and stylish, right? Wrong. Sure, Apple may be the leader in tech fashion, but other manufacturers are getting in on the game too. Just yesterday, I wrote about some really fancy-looking Fossil watches that are totally chic.

Today, however, what may be the most luxurious smartwatch of all time makes its debut. Samsung is partnering with watch and jewelry-maker, de GRISOGONO, for a special version of the Tizen-powered Gear S2. It is so fancy, that even Jony Ive of Apple may be jealous.

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