Samsung Pay coming to the UK and Spain alongside the Galaxy S7

After Apple Pay was launched in the UK in July 2015, Samsung is trying to counter it by launching its own mobile payments solution in the country. At the company’s recently held European Forum 2016, an executive from the company mentioned a possible time frame for the launch of Samsung Pay in the UK and Spain.

Nathalie Oestmann, who heads Samsung Pay in Europe, announced on stage that the company’s mobile payments system will be “coming to the UK and Spain very soon this year“. The exact date? “More details [will follow] at MWC [Mobile World Congress] in a few weeks time“.

We might get to know the exact date for the launch of Samsung Pay in Spain and the UK during the unveiling of the Galaxy S7 duo on February 21. This falls in line with our exclusive report where we said these countries would get the service in the first quarter of 2016.

Samsung Pay works with the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy S6 edge+, the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 edge, the Galaxy A5 (2016), the Galaxy A7 (2016), and the Galaxy A9. The South Korean smartphone giant’s mobile payment tech is already available in the US and South Korea. The service supports gift cards, and support for online shopping will be added soon.

Also Read: Rooting your Galaxy device will disable Samsung Pay functionality

The company will, no doubt, include Samsung Pay in the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge. Unlike Apple Pay and Android Pay, which only work with NFC compatible point-of-sale equipments, Samsung Pay works anywhere a normal debit or credit card works. The technology will be introduced in Australia, Brazil, and Singaporelater this year.

Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge pre-orders to go live on February 21, free Gear VR included

The folks over at Android World are reporting that the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge will go up for pre-order in the Netherlands right on launch day, February 21st. It’s not the first time pre-orders will begin on the day a Samsung flagship will go official – the same happened with the Note 5 and S6 edge+ in the US (well, it happened a day later for those two devices), and we have seen third-party retailers and even Samsung in the Netherlands start pre-orders soon after unveiling a device. The same will be the case for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge according to the site.

Samsung will also be giving away a free Gear VR to everyone who pre-orders either of the two phones between February 21 and March 10 and signs up on the company’s official site. That’s good news, though Android World also says only the 32GB model of the S7 and S7 edge will be available in the country. Perhaps that isn’t something we should be unhappy about, as the microSD slot is making a return and should allow users to extend their phone’s storage by up to 128GB. It’s always good to have as much internal storage as possible though, so maybe Samsung will consider launching the 64GB variant sometime down the line.

A March 11 availability date is also mentioned, which has already been rumored a couple of times in recent weeks. All in all, it doesn’t look like we will have to wait long before the Galaxy S7 and its larger curved sibling become available for sale after the Unpacked event.

New press render of Samsung Galaxy S7 edge leaks in grey

A couple of live images of the Galaxy S7 duo were leaked yesterday showing the devices in black, which also highlighted the almost flush camera module on the device. Later, the Galaxy S7 edge’s 3,600 mAh battery was confirmed through an FCC filing. Now, a new press render of the yet unannounced Galaxy S7 edge has surfaced the Internet.

The seasoned leakster Evan Blass has tweeted the press render of the Galaxy S7 edge, which shows the device in grey color (though it could also be silver). The new image shows the device with the same wallpaper that leaked through our forums yesterday. The image also confirms February 21 as the official launch date of the device.

As of now, the device has been leaked in three colors; black, gold and silver/grey, but the final list of color options can only be confirmed after the official announcement of the device, which is bound to happen at Samsung’s Unpacked 2016 press conference just a day before MWC 2016.

Samsung trademark hints towards ‘Always On Display’ mode on the Galaxy S7

It appears that Samsung has filed an application to trademark the term ‘Always On Display’, which points towards the presence of such a feature in its upcoming smartphones, the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge. It was suggested in a recently released report from VentureBeat that the next-generation flagship smartphones from the company would feature always on displays.

The South Korean smartphone giant has filed an application with the USTPO and requested to trademark the term ‘Always On Mode‘. Even though the term ‘Always On Display’ sounds very generic, Samsung clearly wants to protect it as the feature might be used in the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge.

Since Super AMOLED displays have self-emitting pixels, they consume power only while displaying the content. Hence, it can be used to display vital information such as time, date, weather, messages, news, calendar entries, or notifications while consuming very little power.

Apparently, this feature uses just one percent of charge from the battery every hour, and the Galaxy S7 devices are expected to be equipped with larger batteries. Nokia (Glance Screen) and Motorola (Ambient Display) have already used a similar feature in their smartphones, and it’s good to know that Samsung is finally thinking to bring it to its future smartphones.

Rumor: Galaxy Note 6 will come to Europe, but no new Edge+ handset

An interesting new leak, from the folks over TechRadar, suggests that Samsung will be fixing one of its biggest mistakes from last year in 2016. The site cites a source within one of UK’s major network operators and says that Samsung will not be launching the next edge+ handset in the UK but will bring the Galaxy Note lineup back in August with the Galaxy Note 6.

That would be the exact opposite of what Samsung did with the Galaxy Note 5and S6 edge+ for the European region. The source says “backlash from loyal Note fans” is the reason behind the decision, and it’s not surprising – the Note 5 is thebest Galaxy Note in the series’ history (well, since the Note II maybe), especially after the disappointing Galaxy Note 4, and it was downright evil that the Korean giant didn’t bring the handset to so many countries. Many rumors suggested the Note 5 would make an appearance in the continent, but that didn’t exactly turn out to be true (as we had hinted at).

Sales of the S6 edge+ were reportedly not that great, but we guess that is why Samsung decided to make it its sole late 2015 flagship in Europe: push the new form factor and the Edge lineup by making it the only option for a large number of consumers, and simply make excuses about “consumer preference” for the move. The source of this information didn’t say if this means the edge+ lineup will be going away completely, but we wouldn’t put it past the company to do so.

Read More: Galaxy S6 edge+ Review: Samsung’s most beautiful smartphone nears perfection

Why? Well, first off, the 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 in the first half of 2016 would leave little sense in making a Galaxy S7 edge+ with a screen that’s 0.2-inches larger, unless Samsung decides to go with a 6-inch or larger display instead. It would also give them a chance to bring the Note lineup back with a bang and make it the main phablet flagship offering once again. As current rumors stand though, the Galaxy S7 edge+ has only been postponed and not cancelled, so there’s no telling what Samsung will do a year after the S6 edge+ and Note 5′s launch.

Of course, there’s also the fact that we are many months away from a Galaxy Note 6 (there’s even a chance a new Galaxy Note will never arrive), so anything could happen between now and then. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge are hogging all the limelight these days, and both are shaping up to be great smartphones that won’t let us spend any time caring about the next Note.

Samsung will deliver the first Olympic content in virtual reality at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games

As a Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment category Samsung has announced a new Olympic initiative that seeks to ignite the passion for sports and life in young fans during the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games. Samsung Galaxy Studios will provide a series of event activations and unique programming to make the experience inspiring and unforgettable for fans throughout the city and Olympic venues. The company is going to spread the spirit of the Games to young fans across the globe through a marketing campaign called “The Only Way to Know.”

“Samsung is proud to spread the Youth Olympic Games spirit both in Lillehammer and around the globe and create new experiences designed to reach youths through our state-of-the-art technology and riveting VR content,” said Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.

The company is going to partner with the International Olympic Committee to deliver the first ever Olympic content in virtual reality and it will also offer the opportunity to tune into the VR live stream of the Opening Ceremony. Viewers will obviously need the Gear VR paired with a compatible Samsung smartphone to view all VR content. Daily VR highlights of the Games will also be provided, featuring highlights from a variety of winter sports including speed skating, snowboarding, ski jumping, and more.

Three Samsung Galaxy Studios – the VR Bus, VR Monument and the VR Station – will be set up in various locations around Lillehammer to provide virtual reality experiences to youths, spectators and athletes. Visitors will get to try out Samsung products like the Galaxy S6 edge+, the Galaxy S6 edge and the Galaxy S6 and they will even be given the opportunity to try a winter sport through immersive virtual reality experiences with the Gear VR. Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games take place from February 12-21, 2016 in Lillehammer, Norway.

Google removes adblocking app for Samsung’s internet browser

It was only a couple of days ago that Samsung announced an update for its internet browser that added an adblocking API thus allowing third-party adblocking apps to tap into the API and block ads on Samsung Internet. Ad Block Fast was Samsung’s launch partner for this feature and it quickly racked up tens of thousands of downloads in a few days before Google unceremoniously removed it from the Play Store. Ad Block Fast developers received an email from Google which said that the app violated section 4.4 of the Developer Distribution Agreement and that’s why Ad Block Fast has been disabled as a “policy strike.”

Section 4.4 of the Developer Distribution Agreement states that developers will not build an app that “interferes with, disrupts, damages, or accesses in an unauthorized manner the devices, servers, networks, or other properties or services of any third party including, but not limited to, Android users, Google or any mobile network operator.” Ad Block Fast doesn’t exactly do this since it’s using a Samsung API to block ads within a particular app however the adblocking app does technically “disrupt” web pages and perhaps that’s why Google decided to go ahead with this policy strike.

It’s worth noting that similar Samsung Internet extensions from Adblock Plus and Crystal are still live on the Play Store but it’s likely that they haven’t popped up on Google’s radar yet because they’ve not made it to the top of the charts. Google has not commented on this removal so it can’t really be said for sure if and when the Ad Block Fast adblocking extension for Samsung Internet will become available again. While we’re on the subject of adblocking here’s why you should add SamMobile to your adblocker’s whitelist.