The popularity of local brands from China such as Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, OnePlus and Xiaomi have surpassed Samsung in the past few years. The South Korean company is now working on covering the lost ground in China. In the recent past, the company has worked on launching phones that are customized for the Chinese markets and now its gearing up to release Android 9 Pie update for its devices. Today, Samsung China has released the Android 9 Pie update roadmap for its smartphones and tablets.

Samsung Galaxy S9 (SM-G9600 / G9608) and Galaxy S9+ (SM-G9650) models along with Galaxy Note 9 (SM-N9600) will be treated with Android 9 Pie update in February in China. In March, the Pie upgrade will be available for Galaxy A9 Star (SM-G8850).

The Galaxy A9 Star Lite (SM-A6050), Galaxy A9 2019 (SM-A9200), Galaxy A9 Star (SM-G8858), Galaxy S8 (SM-G9500 / G9508), Galaxy S8+ (SM-G9550) and Galaxy Note 8 (SM-N9500 / N9508) are scheduled to receive Android 9 Pie update in April In China. In May, the Galaxy A9 Start Lite (SM-A6068) smartphone and Galaxy Tab S4 (SM-T830 / T835C) tablet will be provided with Android 9 Pie OS update.

• Read more: Samsung Galaxy A50 key specs appear; Likely to debut after Galaxy S10, S10 Plus

Samsung will be releasing Android 9 Pie update to W2019 flagship clamshell phone in August. In September, the latest Android version will be coming to Samsung Phoenix aka Galaxy A6s (SM-G6200), Galaxy S (SM-G8750), Galaxy Tab S3 tablet (SM-T820 / T825C) and W2018 clamshell phone (SM-W2018) will be upgraded to Android 9 Pie update. The Galaxy J8 (SM-J3300 / J3308) and 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab A 2018 tablet (SM-T590 / T595C) are scheduled to receive Android 9 Pie upgrade in October.

Samsung users will be receiving One UI along with Android 9 Pie OS update. Even though the South Korean company has released the aforementioned, the arrival of the update for some devices may vary if it is not ready for release.

(via)

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A few months ago, Samsung launched the Galaxy A9 Star exclusively in China. Now it seems that the South Korean giant is all set to introduce the new trendy gradient color options for the Galaxy A9 Star.

Currently, the phone is available in two color options — Black and White. Now, another color option with pink and purple gradient color on the back panel will be introduced, as revealed through the leaked images. However, there’s no specific date revealed for the launch.

Since the phone is only available in China, the new color option will be limited to China only. The phone is also available in other regions as Galaxy A8 Star but there’s no indication about a gradient color option for the Galaxy A8 Star.

The Galaxy A9 Star is a premium mid-range device which features a 6.3-inch FHD+ Infinity Display and is powered by a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 660 processor along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It has a 24-megapixel + 16-megapixel dual camera system at the back and a 16-megapixel front-facing camera.

Read More: New Samsung phone with a Snapdragon 845 SoC heading to China may be W2019

It runs on Android Oreo operating system and comes with full Bixby experience, including Bixby Voice, Vision, Reminder, and Home. Just like other Samsung flagship devices, this one too features a dedicated Bixby button. The phone is powered by a 3,700mAh battery.

(Via)

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Perhaps stimulated by the rapidly rising profile of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi in the Indian market, Samsung is gradually bringing more innovativeness and less stereotype into its smartphone designs and configuration. The company has just launched a new model for the Indian market. The Samsung Galaxy A8 Star, as it is known, comes with a number of specs features which is different from the usual Exynos SOC, 16:9 aspect ratio screen design, single camera, small battery and RAM sizes which usually characterise the company’s mid-range models. The model was reportedly launched in China earlier on as Galaxy A9 Star.

The Galaxy A8 Star sports a massive 6.3-inch Super AMOLED screen with a full-screen, notch-less design and 2220 x 1080 pixels resolution. The screen has an 80% screen-to-body ratio and utilises the 18:9 aspect ratio. The device utilises a metal frame and has a 2.5D curved glass over the display screen. The Samsung Galaxy A8 Star is equipped with the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 premium midrange chipset. The processor sure brings AI feature to the camera. The SoC is backed by 6GB of RAM while the phone has 64GB of internal storage expandable up to 400GB.

On the camera end, the Galaxy A8 Star packs a dual camera setup at the rear which is arranged in the iPhone X style. That is the two sensors are arranged vertically at the upper left corner. The dual camera setup is comprised of a 16MP + 24MP sensors. Both sensors come with a f/1.7 aperture. For selfies, the A8 Star features a 24MP  shooter with f/2.0 aperture. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor which unlocks the device in record time. The premium smartphone gets its juice from a 3,700mAh battery which ships with a 15W USB Type-C charger. Providing the interface is Android 8.0 Oreo-based Samsung Experience 9.0.  The phone also has the Bixby smart assistant built in, NFC and facial recognition.

Read Also: Samsung Galaxy J2 Core is the company’s first Android Go smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy A8 Star will go on sale in India on August 27 and will be sold exclusively on Amazon India. It carries a price tag of Rs. 34,990 (around $501) which is a little bit expensive considering the Snapdragon 660 chipset is somehow old and there are cheaper mid-range models utilising the SoC.

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Samsung’s market share in China and India is steadily declining. Xiaomi has dethroned Samsung to capture the numero uno position in India and in China, the South Korean company has a dismal market share of less than 1 percent. The firm is well aware of it and it seems to have some strategy to regain its popularity in China. Fresh information reveals that Samsung is planning to launch Galaxy S8 Lite and Galaxy A8 Star smartphones to target the Chinese audience.

In the previous month, a mysterious Samsung phone with model number of SM-G8750 was spotted at Geekbench. Earlier in this month, another unidentified Samsung phone with model number SM-G8850 was certified by TENAA and the same phone was earlier spotted at AnTuTu benchmarking platform. Initial rumors had claimed that these phones could two variants of the rumored Galaxy S9 Mini. New information shared a popular leakster from China reveals that the SM-G8750 and SM-G8850 will be respectively launching as Galaxy S8 Lite and Galaxy A8 Star. Both the smartphones are expected to arrive Infinity Display design.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S10 Concept Video Showcases Extremely Thin Bezels

Recent reports have revealed that the Galaxy S8 Lite and Galaxy A8 Star are both fueled by Snapdragon 660 SoC. The Geekbench listing of the SM-G8750 Galaxy S8 Lite had revealed that it has 4 GB of RAM and it is loaded with Android 8.1 Oreo.

The TENAA listing of the SM-G8850 Galaxy A8 Star has revealed that it has 6.28-inch Super AMOLED display that supports Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2220 pixels. The SoC of the phone is supported by 4 GB of RAM. It has a 3,700mAh battery. The rear side of the phone features a vertical dual camera setup that includes a 16-megapixel sensor and a 24-megapixel sensor. It has a selfie snapper of 24-megapixel.

(source)

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