Over in South Korea, Samsung Electronics Service just swept the floor at the 2026 Korean Standard-Service Quality Index (KS-SQI) awards. The company took home the top spots for home appliances, computers, and mobile phones.

Winning an award is cool, but here is the ridiculous part: this marks 25 consecutive years that Samsung has held the number one spot for computer service, and 23 consecutive years for mobile phones.

Samsung has been leaning heavily into AI stuff recently, using a feature called Home Appliance Remote Management (HRM).

It connects to your SmartThings setup, scans your gear for issues, and tries to fix them via software. The company also uses AI behind the scenes to route the best possible technician to your door based on what exactly broke.

For folks living out in remote mountainous regions or random islands off the coast, Samsung Service literally sends technicians out on boats and mobile service trucks to fix phones and appliances on-site.

Engineers travel by boat to remote islands to provide on-site home appliance repair services, ensuring that all customers can use Samsung Electronics products with confidence, regardless of their location.

The company also expanded a nationwide reservation system for phone repairs so you can book a slot on Saturdays and skip the lines entirely. Obviously, this is for Samsung’s home turf in Korea, where its infrastructure is unmatched.

Samsung users, how has your experience been with their customer service lately? Does Samsung Customer Service deserve a 25-year streak, or does it still have work to do?

Samsung Galaxy Jump 5 phone is now official, and it will be available for purchase starting tomorrow, July 3, across South Korea.

South Korea’s KT will sell the Samsung Galaxy Jump 5 phone in the country. Interested buyers can purchase the device through KT stores in Korea and the official online mall, KT[dot]com.

Galaxy Jump 5 is different from its predecessors

Galaxy Jump 5 is based on the Global Galaxy A27. Samsung has recently unveiled the smartphone globally, and it’s also going on sale starting tomorrow.

The biggest difference is that this is the first model built on a Galaxy A series phone. Previous Jump models have their roots in the Galaxy M series. This shift alone secures plenty of new AI features and a more premium design.

The device brings AI features such as Circle to Search, which displays search results when a circle is drawn on screen; Object Eraser that removes unwanted elements from photos; and tools to transcribe and translate voice recordings and calls.

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Colors, price and offers

Galaxy Jump 5 will be available in three colors, including Black, Light Green, and Light Pink. It comes with a price tag of KRW 545,600, which converts to roughly $350.

Customers who activate the device by July 5 can receive a “Digital Onnuri Gift Certificate” rebate worth up to KRW 107,000 (~ $70) as part of “Samsung Appreciation Festival” promotion.

Additionally, the first 10,000 shoppers will receive a three-month subscription to the reading platform “Millie’s Library” and a character-collaboration power bank package.

The new Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 release brings new features and bug fixes to Google Pixel devices. This release also marks the Platform Stability milestone for the operating system, setting up the OS for stable advancements.

Google specified which bugs are fixed in Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6, while the update also has some new features. The post-release development of Android 17 continues, while Samsung is still Beta testing the One UI 9 version.

Well, new features in this update include distance and calorie tracking via Health Connect, new icons for Settings, which were first debuted on the Pixel Watch, and a design overhaul for the wallpaper picker service.

New features

• Health Connect on phones can now track distance and calories
• New Settings icon
  • This design was first introduced on the Pixel Watch
  • It appears if you move the icon around on your homescreen
• Redesign for wallpaper picker

Samsung launched Android 17-based One UI 9 Beta in May 2026. The company has released three Beta updates so far, with the 4th on the verge of release. The official version is set to launch with the upcoming foldable phones later this month.

Bug fixes

• Users were unable to select multiple spell checker languages. (Issue #147312111)
• Pressing the device volume buttons within the Clock app failed to trigger the expected user interface actions. (Issue #527400457, Issue #527395501, Issue #524895625)
• Rapidly swiping through the media carousel caused visual glitches in the Quick Settings layout and settings icon by improving animation and layout state handling during rapid transitions. (Issue #514947195)
• An issue in WindowManagerGlobal that resulted in app crashes. (Issue #516639947)
• Enabling the Wi-Fi hotspot displayed a generic default SSID instead of the user’s saved custom name. (Issue #485168823)

If you’re planning to wait another year before buying a foldable phone in hopes of getting a better deal, that strategy may no longer work. Foldable phone prices will climb further, and 2026 is set to see an 18 percent jump alone.

The overall foldable market is rapidly shifting toward ultra-premium devices priced above $1,600. Delaying your purchase could actually mean paying more for the type of foldable that manufacturers increasingly prioritize.

A new Counterpoint report indicates that devices above the $1,600 price bracket could account for roughly 60 percent of all foldable shipments in 2026, fundamentally changing the category’s average selling price.

Apple’s arrival changes the pricing equation

Industry estimates suggest Apple’s first foldable, widely rumored as the iPhone Ultra, could capture nearly 28 percent of the global foldable market in its first year.

Unlike many Android manufacturers that compete across multiple price tiers, Apple is expected to launch directly into the premium book-style segment.

That single move dramatically raises the industry’s weighted Average Selling Price (ASP). Ironically, it also hides the fact that lower-priced foldables continue getting cheaper underneath the surface.

The real story isn’t hardware, but AI

The smartphone industry has reached a practical limit. Traditional slab phones maximize portability but struggle with multitasking. Flip phones prioritize compactness, yet sacrifice usable workspace.

Book-style foldables solve a completely different problem: they create a pocket-sized workspace capable of supporting simultaneous AI workflows. We found that multitasking is becoming the strongest justification for expensive foldables.

For years, consumers expected smartphones to become cheaper with time. Foldables are beginning to follow a different path, where the devices delivering the most productivity gains also command the industry’s highest premiums.

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July 1, 2026 | Samsung may expand its premium tablet portfolio in the next few months. The company’s upcoming Galaxy Tab S12+ and Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra might be unveiled in September 2026, as per @fireuniverse.

Original story…

Samsung isn’t reportedly bumping the battery capacity on its Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra. New information coming out from the supply chain suggests a battery mAh stagnation on the company’s biggest tablet this year.

GalaxyClub revealed the possible battery capacity of the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra. Samsung’s upcoming tablet reportedly retains an 11,600 mAh battery (11,374 mAh rated).

This is the same size battery the Korean tech giant installed inside the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. Charging speed could also remain unchanged at 45W, letting users charge their tablets faster.

While the battery size is staying same, Samsung may still bring battery life improvements. This would be powered by the utilization of a new chipset that’s coming from MediaTek.

Galaxy Tab S12 series could rely on MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 processor. This 3nm chipset is fabricated using TSMC’s 3nm 3NP process, offering performance and efficiency improvements.

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The Dimensity 9500 uses three CPU clusters based on a fast ARM C1-Ultra core with up to 4.2 GHz, three C1-Premium cores at up to 3.5 GHz, and four smaller C1-Pro cores at up to 2.7 GHz.

In Geekbench 6, the Dimensity 9500 scores 3,177 in single-core and 9,701 in multi-core. The 9400+ pushes single-core slightly higher than the base 9400 thanks to its boosted 3.73 GHz prime core, but it still uses the same ARMv9.2 architecture.

MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 is up to 42% more efficient for graphics, powered by the new Mali-G1 Ultra. In terms of AI, it delivers 100% faster 3-billion-parameter LLM output, 128K token long-text processing, and 4K ultra-high-definition image generation on-device.

Samsung could launch the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra alongside the Tab S12 Plus sometime in September this year.