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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra slaps iPhone 14 with Satellite Call, without hardware
Apple brought satellite communication technology to smartphones, starting with its iPhone 14 series. Since iPhone 14 brings satellite SMS feature with hardware integration, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra becomes with world’s first phone to successfully make a call through satellite, without hardware installed.
Since the latest Samsung Galaxy S23 series lacks satellite communication hardware, it’s great to see that the last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra used to make a satellite call from Texas to Japan. Apple and Huawei’s flagships offer just SMS via satellite, but S22 Ultra went beyond that.
Galaxy S22 Ultra made call via satellite
According to BusinessWire, AST SpaceMobile partnered with AT&T to make satellite call using an unmodified smartphone. The testers picked Galaxy S22 Ultra to perform the operation of creating history as the phone doesn’t have integrated hardware to do so.
Using the BlueWalker 3 satellite, the unmodified Galaxy S22 Ultra successfully achieved the honor of making the world’s first voice call to a destination (Japan), which is far away. As the test is considered successful, we may see various regular phones feature satellite calls in the near future.
“AST SpaceMobile, Inc. today announced the successful completion of the first-ever two-way voice calls, directly to everyday unmodified smartphones using the BlueWalker 3 (“BW3”) satellite.
The first voice call was made from the Midland, Texas area to Rakuten in Japan over AT&T spectrum using a Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone.”
This is the first time anyone has ever achieved a direct voice connection from space to everyday cellular devices, demonstrating a significant advancement in AST SpaceMobile’s mission to provide connectivity to the nearly 50% of the global population who remain unconnected from cellular broadband.
AST SpaceMobile’s satellite connectivity technology will make it easier to spread the network’s reach to areas that are disconnected currently. Moreover, it will end the need for expensive network infrastructure like towers and wired connectivity to expand the network’s reach.
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TSMC gained a significant lead over Samsung in the US semiconductor market. The company has managed to kick off full-scale semiconductor production at its US fab. Meanwhile, Samsung is failing to meet deadlines decided by itself.
BusinessKorea reports that TSMC has started full-scale production of mobile semiconductors at its US facility. The report says that the company started production months ahead of the date set by its original plan and secured clients.
Taiwanese media reported that TSMC produced a 4nm A16 processor for Apple iPhone at its Arizona US facility. The processor is said to be used in the iPhone SE 4, which will tentatively release in early 2025.
Samsung tried to chase TSMC in the US, however, things did not go well. The company has delayed the start of its Taylor plant from late 2024 to early 2025. There are many legal and administrative reasons behind the delay in Texas fab.
On the other hand, TSMC plans to expand the number of its fabs to six by 2030. The company already has two fabs under construction in Arizona.
“TSMC is dominating the foundry market while Samsung and Intel are struggling,” said a foundry industry insider. “It is urgent to finalize the timing of the subsidies in consultation with the U.S. government to narrow its market share gap with TSMC.”
US CHIPS
The US Govt hasn’t yet sanctioned a CHIPS subsidy to Samsung Elec. There are assumptions that the completion date may be further pushed back due to delay in subsidy alongside rising construction costs in the US.
Samsung Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus, and Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphones are getting an Android 14-based One UI 6.1.1 update. The company has initiated this update rollout for S22 series users in Korea and the company will expand it in more countries soon.
One UI 6.1.1 update for the Samsung Galaxy S22 series arrives with One UI build versions given below.
- S901NKSU5EXH7 – Galaxy S22
- S906NKSU5EXH7 – Galaxy S22 Plus
- S908NKSU5EXH7 – Galaxy S22 Ultra
One UI 6.1.1 update adds exciting new features to improve your smartphone experience. It introduces Galaxy AI’s Sketch Conversion, which turns simple drawings into artwork in apps like Samsung Notes.
It also enhances photos with AI-generated style portraits and adds text auto-completion to the Samsung Keyboard for easier typing. You can now translate calls in real-time on apps like Google Meet and WhatsApp, and translate text in images with Samsung Internet.
Listening Mode helps translate languages during lectures. The update lets you record voice and convert it to text, manage PDFs better, and set wallpapers that change with the weather and time.
Users can check new software updates manually with a handful of simple steps. Firstly, visit your Galaxy device’s “System Settings,” once done, scroll down and tap the “Software update” tab, followed by the “Download and install” button.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus could look the same as S24 Plus from the front. The company has reportedly reduced side bezels on the vanilla and Ultra variants. Meanwhile, the lineup’s middle child could introduce no bezel refinements.
The Galaxy S25 Plus could have wider bezels than S25 and S25 Ultra. Tipster IceUniverse claims that the move is aligned with differentiating the Plus from Ultra. It’s also said that the recently leaked renders have frame appearance errors.
The S25 Ultra is said to be slightly thicker and more squarish than the S25 Plus. This is highly due to identical display size with a difference of only 0.1mm. The backplate will have notable differences due to distinct cameras and sensors.
Samsung’s next-gen flagships will likely debut in January next year. Details about the upcoming phones are floating heavily, fading the One UI 7 trend. However, things may change with time as early rumors couldn’t be considered final specs.
A bad news,S25+ will be the widest bezel among the three models, which is almost the same as S24+.
It may be that Samsung did this on purpose to make way for S25 Ultra.
Among the three models, the narrowest bezel is S25 Ultra. pic.twitter.com/CaEPyeooAC— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) September 17, 2024
I have a more accurate CAD than onleaks, which contains lines that were missing before, so I know this.
— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) September 18, 2024
The Galaxy S25 Plus could be equipped with a 4900mAh battery. Similar to the S24 Plus, it would support 45W fast charging technology. Yet, you can expect even longer battery performance due to the enhanced application processor.
Samsung will either use Exynos 2500 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Both chipsets will be developed using the next-generation 3nm chipset. Improved display technology may further push the power efficiency, offering even more juice to run.