Galaxy S6 and S6 edge update said to bring RAW photo capture

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge both offer amazing camera quality, which is only natural, seeing how the pair employs very advanced sensors and optics. But, surprisingly enough, they lack RAW capture, which is a must for any photography enthusiast.

Samsung launches the Galaxy Tab A with S Pen in South Korea

Samsung has launched the Galaxy Tab A with S Pen in South Korea. While the tablet is available in both 9.7 and 8 inch variants, only the former has been launched. It will, however, be available in both WiFi and LTE flavors.

Specs-wise, the device is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core snapdragon 410 processor and sports a 1024×768 pixels PLS LCD display. It comes with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (which can be expanded up to 128GB using a microSD card), and packs in a 6000mAh  and 4200mAh battery in 9.7" and 8" respectively. In terms of camera, the tablet features a 5MP rear unit and a 2MP front shooter. It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and comes pre-loaded with Microsoft apps.

As for the price, the WiFi version carries a price tag of 399,000 South Korean Won ($373), while the LTE version will set you back 484,000 South Korean Won ($453). The tablet will be available for purchase soon after the non-S Pen variant goes on sale next month.

Samsung's new custom CPU cores 45% faster than A57

Samsung has undoubtedly secured its top-dog position in terms of current gen mobile SoC performance. The latest Exynos 7420, powering the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge has proven itself more capable than anything Qualcomm or Mediatek currently have to offer. But, in today's fast-paced mobile realm tides can shift almost instantly and Samsung doesn't intend to let its competition catch up.

A few weeks ago, we heard a rumor, that the Korean giant is currently hard at work on a custom CPU core design of its own. This is, actually the next logical step in evolving the company's own Exynos chipset family, as, even though, the Exynos 7420 is manufactured with proprietary Samsung technology, it is still based on standard Cortex A57 and A53 cores.

The new silicon, codenamed Mongoose, is said to employ an entirely different architecture altogether and according to some preliminary benchmarks and estimates, in churns out 45% better single-core performance than the Exynos 7420. As far as we currently know, the 64-bit Mongoose chips should cover an ARMv8 instruction set and offer clock speeds of up to 2.3 GHz. There is, however, a lot more that contributes to a mobile chip's performance and proper heat management is another key factor. Samsung has led us to believe that Mongoose will be build using 14nm FinFET technology, just like the current Exynos 7420.

In other words, Samsung, needs to really implement things right, or else it might risk causing another overheating fiasco, like the one still plaguing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. Another interesting rumor concerning the upcoming chips is that Exynos M1, which will supposedly be the first Mongoose chip, might employ a Heterogeneous System Architecture. This would be an exciting step forward for mobile tech, as the concept of employing GPU processors for genera-purpose calculations has really caught on lately. Furthermore, Samsung is, in fact, part of the HAS Foundation, along with other major industry names, like AMD, ARM, Imagination Technologies, MediaTek, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, which makes the leap to heterogeneous computing all that more plausible.

As far as availability goes, industry source estimate that the first Mongoose chips might enter into mass production in 9 to 12 months. If Samsung sticks to its standard release schedule, this could mean that the company's next flagship device, presumably the Galaxy S7, will be the first to use the novice architecture.

Samsung confirms its next smartwatch "Gear A" has round screen

Samsung has released a lot of smartwatches so far, but it's reportedly taking its time with the next one, wanting to get it just right. The device is codenamed Orbis, and will be sold as the Gear A. It will come with a round screen, unlike all of its predecessors.

The Orbis (or Gear A) has been leaked a lot so far, but today Samsung has actually confirmed that it will have a round display. The company did the deed through an official press release announcing that the software development kit (SDK) for its next smartwatch will be out before the wearable itself launches.

This is done in a bid to convince developers to write apps for the watch, and have as many of those as possible available straight from its release day. Developers who are interested to take part in this effort can sign up at a dedicated website, and then wait for Samsung to contact them with more details.

The giveaway is in the image attached to said press release, which features only round app examples. So at least this is clear now. What's left to happen is for Samsung to actually announce the Gear A, and there's currently no telling when that will occur.

From past leaks we know that the Gear A may be powered by Samsung's Exynos 7420 chipset, the same one employed by the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. The smartwatch will get a version with 3G connectivity and voice call support, and it should sport wireless charging.

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