Android 7.0 Nougat beta for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

Samsung launched the Galaxy Beta Program recently to provide builds of Android 7.0 Nougat beta for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge. The program has been launched in the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea and China. Interested users first have to register through the app and it’s only after they’re selected do they get access to the beta firmware. Those who do get selected for the program should keep in mind that Android 7.0 Nougat beta for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge doesn’t have support for the Gear VR.

Firing up the Oculus app once Nougat beta has been installed brings up the “Network error occurred. Try again later” error. It stops the virtual environment from loading so the Gear VR can’t be used with the handset. The reason behind this error is simple. The Oculus app hasn’t been updated for Android 7.0 beta and it’s unlikely that an update will be sent out to enable support while the firmware is still in beta. The update can be expected to arrive prior to the public release of Nougat for the flagships.

Those who want to continue using Gear VR after they have upgraded to Android 7.0 Nougat have no option but to downgrade to the latest version of Marshmallow. They can do that by deregistering from the Galaxy Beta Program through the app, once they do, they will receive a link to a file which lets them downgrade to the most recent stable version of firmware for that device.

Samsung is yet to confirm when Android 7.0 Nougat is going to be officially released for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge.

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Galaxy C5 Pro surfaces on Indian

A little more than two months ago, we exclusively reported that Samsung was working on a souped-up model of the Galaxy C5 called the Galaxy C5 Pro, and now the handset — carrying the model number SM-C5010 — has been imported into India for testing and evaluation purposes. This news comes shortly after the long-rumored Galaxy C7 Pro entered the region for similar reasons.

Unfortunately, the documentation accompanying the prototype doesn’t shine any light on the internals it packs. If a recent report is anything to go by, however, it looks like the Galaxy C5 Pro will be powered by a Snapdragon 625 processor and will sport at least 3GB of RAM. Although, it’s worth noting that neither of those specifications have been confirmed as of yet.

You’ve probably noticed that the unit carries a price tag of INR 20,483 ($300) in the import listing, but it’s extremely unlikely that this will be the final price tag it’ll carry when it hits the shelves. In fact, it’s actually expected to be quite a bit more than this figure seeing as the Galaxy C5 currently retails for around INR 23,000 ($337) in India.

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Galaxy Note 7 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage

A lot of folks were disappointed to see that the Galaxy Note 7 doesn’t feature 6GB of RAM, despite so many rumors that said that that would be the case. Of course, it makes sense that Samsung chose to stick with 4GB of RAM, as there really isn’t any use case for 6GB of RAM in this day and age on a smartphone. Apps have only gotten leaner (and so has Android) when it comes to memory usage, and having too many background apps running in a phone is only going to be detrimental for battery life.

But that hasn’t stopped people from berating the Galaxy Note 7, and it looks like Samsung could oblige naysayers with a 6GB RAM variant of the device, at least in the Chinese market. The 6GB RAM variant can be seen listed online on the Geekbench website, and also on the Chinese Industry and Information Technology Ministry. It would also have 128GB of storage out of the box – Samsung had released a 128GB storage variant of the Note 5 in South Korea last year, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the company throwing in 6GB of RAM for the 128GB model of the Note 7.

China, especially, would be a good choice for this variant. Chinese consumers are likely to be more critical of the Note 7 not having 6GB of RAM when manufacturers in the country are making it a feature on most of their new high-end smartphones. The OnePlus 3 is the most recent example of a phone with so much RAM from a Chinese OEM, and it wouldn’t hurt Samsung to offer a Note 7 variant with 6 gigs of memory to make sure it doesn’t lose a few customers to the extremely strong competition in the country.

Of course, it’s always possible this device won’t ever see the light of day, and all we can do is wait and see what Samsung plans to do. What do you think? Are you still hoping to see 6GB of RAM on the Note 7, or do you think the 4GB variant is enough?

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Galaxy On7 (2016) spotted on Geekbench with Exynos 7870 processor and 3GB RAM

The Galaxy On7 (2016) is currently in the pipeline and previous benchmark results have shown that at least one variant of this handset is going to feature a 2GHz Snapdragon 625 processor with 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel rear and 8-megapixel front camera, a 4.8-inch Full HD display as well as 16GB of expandable storage. The SM-G610F – believed to be the Galaxy On7 (2016) for India – has now been spotted on Geekbench feature an Exynos 7870 octa-core processor coupled with 3GB RAM. The variant with the Snapdragon 625 may only be released in China.

That’s not all. The Galaxy On7 (2016) might very well be the first mid-range handset priced below Rs. 15,000 in India to feature a fingerprint sensor. Import listings from Zauba show that Samsung has imported “fingerprint assembly, fingerprint unit” for the SM-G10F in the country for testing and evaluation. It certainly won’t be surprising to see if the Galaxy On7 (2016) features a fingerprint sensor as there’s ample evidence now to support the possibility. No word as yet on when Samsung will unveil this handset in India.

Thanks, Asgar53!

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delays Gear IconX release in the US

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 7 last week and it also confirmed that day when the Gear IconX activity tracking earbuds will be released in the United States. They have already been released in a handful of other markets and customers in the US have been waiting to find out when they will be able to purchase Samsung’s first activity tracking earbuds. The company was previously supposed to release them on August 15th but it has now delayed the Gear Icon X’s release date in the country.

Fortunately, it has only pushed back the release by a couple of days and that too for what could be described as theatrics. Instead of releasing the Gear IconX on August 15th as it had previously announced, Samsung has now updated its website to reflect that the earbuds will be out on August 19th. The date is of significance because on that very day the Galaxy Note 7 will be released in the United States and many other markets across the globe. Samsung basically thought that it would look better if its first activity tracking wireless earbuds were released on the very same day as its new flagship Galaxy Note handset.

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