Category: Samsung

Do you suffer from Siri envy? If you’re a Samsung user, you might. The Apple or Android question is a polarizing one and most users stick with their preference. Most apps are available on both operating systems and the UE is largely the same … except for Siri. Android’s acquisition of AI Startup VIV could turn that around.

 

The exciting thing about this news is really twofold. For starters, Google’s voice assistant feature has never been quite as beloved as Siri and Samsung doesn’t own it. It hasn’t caught on in the same way. It’s about to get an upgrade that Samsung can control. Additionally, the buzz on Viv is that it’s next gen Siri.

 

I don’t want to get too ahead of myself though. Let’s go back to basics and learn what’s up for the future of Android AI.

 

What We Know About Viv

 

Viv Labs was co-founded by Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham. They’re part of the team behind Siri. After creating the famous Apple personality, they left in 2010 and started Viv.

 

Android acquired Viv, but is allowing them to operate independently and provide support to Android devices.

 

Viv is focused on interconnectedness. Siri’s ability to engage with multiple silos of information across several applications and, thereby, connect them is a good example of this concept.

 

Here’s where things get really interesting, or creepy, depending on your opinion of AI. According to Viv, the AI can write its own code as needed to fill gaps and accomplish tasks. This is the first instance of this kind of tech in AI. Viv calls this ‘dynamic program generation.’

 

In short, a Viv AI assistant has a brain.

 

To learn a little more about the vision behind Viv, check out  Siri Is Only The Beginning, and later wrote that there would be a Cambrian Explosion In AI, written by Kittlaus for Tech Crunch.

 

Samsung Is Making Moves To Differentiate From Google

 

Anyone with a Samsung phone is probably using a lot of Google services. Though two separate entities, the two cooperate seamlessly enough that one hand washes the other. Samsung may be looking to see other people, or more accurately, spend some time with itself.

 

As time goes on, the two tech giants are becoming competitive. Samsung will have much more control over its future if it can run its own software independently from Google.

 

“Our focus is really more device-centric,” said Samsung mobile CTO Injong Rhee explained to Recode. “How do we revolutionize how users interact with our devices and our appliances?”

 

Samsung will be free to use this tech in all of its products including smart TVs.

 

Are you ready to have a conversation with your television? The days of searching for the remote could be over soon.

 

Hear It From The Source

 

Dag Kittlaus made an announcement on Medium regarding the move. The tone is exciting and energized for the future, which is good news for both Samsung and their users. This guy is truly excited about AI.

 

Kittlaus’ vision is of AI as a gateway to the rest of the internet.

 

“Soon, we’ll all have a trusted assistant that is a regular part of our everyday lives. We deeply believe this to be true. This assistant will be as ubiquitous and important as the web browser or the mobile app,” Kittlaus wrote on Medium.

 

This could attract the cutting edge crowd who thirsts for the latest tech to line up for Samsung. It could have huge crossover appeal to causal smartphone users who would prefer to interact with their phones in a user friendly way. It’s certainly a concrete way to solve the problem of texting while driving and really increases the functionality of a smart device.

 

I’m personally excited to see the results of this acquisition. Samsung seems to have harnessed a ball of tech fire and will hopefully ride it like a comet.

In ‘things that make you go hmm’ news, Samsung stock is as high as it’s ever been even though Note 7s are still exploding. I don’t mean in sales, I mean actually exploding.

This is one of the most interesting financial based posts you may ever read. The majority of them involve zero fires, after all.

What’s the deal with the persistent surge in Samsung’s market value? Is it in spite of the Note 7s? Are they literally so hot they’re blowing up?

Let’s take a closer look at what we know about the Note 7 and Samsung’s success in the market.

It Isn’t All About The Note 7

Basically, the reason for the stock success comes down to diversification. Phone sales are important, but Samsung has other irons in the tech fire. Two that are helping them out significantly right now are display and semiconductors.

Samsung leads the market in OLED display screens. This tech is more advanced than LCD screens and appears to be the wave of the future. In the first quarter of 2016, Samsung controlled 95% of the OLED screen market. Demand is expected to increase, and that’s something investors like to hear.

Additionally, Samsung leads the pack in the flash memory department as well. Flash memory comes into play when the power to the device is cut. It conserves data.

This is a pretty attractive feature to mobile device users. Battery life and data conservation are two of the most crucial components of a top selling smartphone.

Samsung released the first 3D NAND chip in 2013 and established themselves in the area ahead of Intel and Micron.

The future looks so bright for Samsung based on these components that investors believe Samsung’s market cap is lower than it ought to be. Figures speculated are a 30 to 70 percent undervaluing.

The Tale of the Exploding Phones- Note 7s Blow Up

The Note 7 was supposed to be a big hit for Samsung. Instead, reports of battery issues that cause the units to catch fire are rampant. There are also safety issues with some of the replacement phones.

The company has confirmed that they’ve made production changes. They are actively trying to reassure consumers that the Note 7 is safe. Samsung did not comment, however, on reports of replacement phones catching fire.

There is a lot of bad PR associated with these defective devices. Videos and news reports of Note 7s blowing up or catching fire have gone viral. Samsung has issued assurances along the way but they’re far less sensational than images of combusting phones.

Market Shares Dropped Before Recovering

It isn’t true that exploding phones had no impact on Samsung’s market performance, however. Initially, there was a dip. The company was able to recover because of their hands in other technological pies.

Those who are involved in the stock market will obviously find all of this news interesting, but regular consumes have a dog in the fight as well. Not only is Samsung’s success driving new competitive innovations, but their strength is evidence that the company is here to stay in the mobile market.

Lovers of Samsung phones can rejoice, but may want to wait until the Note 7s are officially declared safe before running out to get one. That should be fairly easy to do, since all of the major news sources are keeping up to date on the story.

Samsung’s Future And What It Means For Consumers

There appears to be a lot to look forward to for fans of the Samsung product line. This is especially encouraging since there is a new iPad Pro and maybe even an iPad Mini Pro coming in Spring of 2017.

Samsung is ready to compete.

Additionally, Samsung’s acquisition of Viv Labs opens new doors in AI functionality for their product line. The company is innovating and looking to stand alone in the mobile device market

Does your Samsung Galaxy Note III 3 have a cracked screen? Need a Galaxy Note 3 glass only repair? RockIT Repairs specializes in glass only repairs on Note III phones along with other Galaxy models..

When the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note 3 hit the smartphone scene a couple of months back, it was amid flurries of glowing reviews raving about the speed and performance its powerful 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU is capable of. The Note 3 packed heavily for this trip, bringing 3GB of internal RAM along for the ride, yet somehow manages to be even thinner and lighter than the Note 2. The new Multi Window feature allows users to have more than a single viewing pane (which means no more switching back and forth between windows to enter information from one to the other!), and it still functions like a champ.  The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 also introduced Air Command, software designed to further expand upon the S Pen’s features and functionality. Now, an address or phone number scribbled in a note can be mapped out or called right from within the note itself. The Note 3’s main camera has 13MP, while its front-facing “selfie” camera has 2MP, and it’s loaded with features and shooting modes for both the camera and the camcorder.

Having made the rounds for a few months now, reviewers consistently substantiate that the Note 3 not only upholds Samsung’s legacy of furnishing big, beautiful displays to showcase their bright, bold colors and crisp, clear images, but in fact builds upon it, furnishing the Note 3 with a magnificent 5.7 inch, high-resolution display, capable of presenting a pixel density of an extraordinary 386 ppi.

Unfortunately, the day-to-day life of the average smartphone is fraught with danger, and RockIT Repairs has already fixed 100’s of Galaxy Note 3’s with shattered glass. Using our Note 3 Glass Replacement Service,  we’re often able to provide same-day turnaround on the repair. However, replacing the glass on the Note 3 is delicate, painstakingly tedious work, and the repair itself can take upwards of three hours. If you want to call ahead and get an estimated wait time before heading over, you can reach us at (540) 412-8824.

During the Note 3 Glass Replacement, your cracked and broken Note 3 glass will be very carefully separated from the underlying LCD. The LCD is what actually displays all the images and text on your phone, and that repair can cost two to three times as much as a Note 3 Glass-Only Replacement. Once the cracked Note 3 glass is separated  from the LCD, we can re-adhere the new glass to the LCD in one of two ways; we can apply special double-sided tape around the edges of the glass and the LCD, which bonds them together around the edges, but leaves a slight air gap between them, which can make them slightly more susceptible to breaking again, and may allow dirt and dust particles, over time, to make their way between the Note 3 glass and LCD; or we can use Liquid Optical Crystal Adhesive (or LOCA, for short) to bond  the glass and LCD. Using LOCA on the Note 3 glass replacement will allow you to leave with a phone that looks brand-new, (the process we use is nearly identical to the manufacturers, albeit on a much smaller scale), and with a price tag of $139.99 for the repair using LOCA and $99.99 for the double-sided tape repair, there’s just no reason to suffer with your beautiful Note 3’s cracked screen any longer!

Call RockIT Repairs at (540) 412-8824 today if you are in need of Samsung Galaxy Note 3 glass replacement. Why walk around with a shattered Note 3 screen when we can fix it for you today?

 

We’ve been seeing a lot of people with Samsung Galaxy S3 charging port issues lately at RockIT Repairs, and we’ve learned a few common culprits that could be to blame when your S3 won’t charge.

1. Is your S3 charging port dirty? Has the charging port gotten wet recently?

Dirt, dust, and other crud can accumulate inside your S3 charging port, preventing the pin connectors in the port from making contact with the points on the charger. Look into your charging port (you may need a flashlight), and you’ll probably see at least at little debris stuck in there. You can try:

a) Blowing air into the s3 charging port, either with your mouth or a can of compressed air

b) Using 99.99% rubbing alcohol to (gently) clean inside the port, after turning it off and removing the battery

c) Spraying electrical contact cleaner (compressed air with an added, evaporable cleaning agent) into the port and (gently) inserting and removing the charger 4-6 times; after that, attempt to charge it, and start the process over if need be

2. Are you using the original S3 charger?

Galaxy S3s happen to be one of the devices with very particular charging amperage requirements (1 amp is the output of their original charger, although even that has been reported to stop charging the phone). You can either;

a) Try charging it with any microUSB charger other than the one you most commonly use; their favorites are said to be their own original charger, Blackberry chargers, and LG chargers, or

b) Take it to your cellular provider and have them find you the correct charger, and have them test it before you leave

3. Galaxy S3 software issues could be your problem(not likely but could be)

Your Galaxy S3 is really a tiny computer, and is definitely susceptible to software malfunctions. An easy fix (for lots of little issues) would be to perform a hard reset.

1. Power your S3 down

2. Hold down the Volume UP and Home buttons

3. While holding them down, simultaneously press and hold the Power button

4. When the Samsung logo appears, release only the Power button

5. Continue to hold the Volume UP and Home buttons until you see the reset menu

6. Using the Volume Down button, scroll to the option to “clear storage to factory”, and press the Power button once to select that option (you may have to push it once more to reboot the phone)

If you’ve tried all of our troubleshooting tips and your Samsung Galaxy S3 still needs a charging port replacement, give us a call at (540) 412-8824. Our techs at RockIT Repairs can solve your Galaxy S3 charging port problems quickly, easily, and affordable. Repair is only $69.99 includes free return shipping with tracking for our mail in customers or you can visit our local shop. We keep the parts in stock, so we can usually get the repair done the same day you bring it in, with most repairs completed in a few hours.

Here is a video of an S3 charging port being repaired at our shop.

S3 charging cable issues – http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/755785-strange-case-samsung-galaxy-s3-charging-issues.html

S3 how to hard reset – http://www.hard-reset.com/samsung-galaxy-s3-hard-reset.html