Samsung smartphone reportedly exploded inside a young man’s trouser pocket in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The man, identified as Majid, suffered serious burns in the incident. His clothes also caught fire after the phone exploded.

According to the information, Majid was returning to his village, Dankaur, after visiting Ghaziabad when he noticed the phone becoming unusually hot. He said the device then started producing smoke. Before he could remove it from his pocket, it reportedly exploded suddenly.

The explosion caused severe burns to both of Majid’s hands and the lower part of his body. People nearby rushed to help him and took him to a nearby hospital. He is currently receiving medical treatment for his injuries.

Majid said he had purchased the Samsung phone around a month before the incident. He reportedly bought it from DG Com at The Grand Venice Mall in Greater Noida. According to him, the phone had been working normally before the accident.

The exact reason for the explosion is not known yet. A smartphone battery can become dangerous because of damage, a technical fault, or extreme heat. However, the actual cause will need to be confirmed through a proper technical examination.

The incident is a warning for smartphone users to take unusual heating seriously. If a phone becomes very hot, starts smoking, swells, or gives off a strange smell, it should not be used. Users should always follow safety instructions and avoid using damaged phones or batteries to reduce the risk of accidents.

Samsung’s next Fan Edition and tablet launches just got a fresh confirmation, and this time it’s coming straight from Google. The Galaxy S26 FE, Galaxy Tab S12+, and even the budget-friendly Galaxy A07s have now shown up on the Google Play Console’s Supported Devices list.

Starting with the Galaxy S26 FE, five region-specific model numbers have surfaced under the shared “r14s” codename, covering global, Korean, and multiple US and Canadian variants.

Having this many regional variants listed (via TheTechOutlook) together strongly suggests Samsung isn’t limiting the S26 FE to select markets and is instead gearing up for a broad, worldwide release, much like its predecessor.

The Galaxy Tab S12+ has also made its way onto the list, with both Wi-Fi (“gts12pwifi”) and 5G (“gts12p”) variants spotted. A couple of these model numbers have already cleared certification in India, South Korea, and the US.

Rounding things off is the Galaxy A07s, appearing with international and Latin American variants under the “a07ve” codename. Not the flashiest addition, but it shows Samsung is keeping its budget lineup moving in parallel.

None of this confirms an exact launch date just yet, but Samsung executives have already hinted during recent earnings calls that both the S26 FE and Tab S12 series are slated for the second half of 2026, with a September debut looking increasingly likely.

Samsung could unveil the Galaxy S26 FE in the first week of September 2026. The Galaxy Tab S12 lineup is expected in October 2026. The budget Galaxy smartphone may also be announced sometime in October this year.

• Samsung Galaxy S26 FE Leaks and Rumors Roundup

Samsung boss Lee Jae-yong once joked from a stage in Seoul, asking why so many people around him were carrying iPhones. That line, tossed off almost as a punchline back in October, is now getting flipped on its head.

Data shared by Omdia and reported by Hankyung shows Samsung’s Korean shipments climbed past 5.9 million units in the first half of 2026, pushing its home market share to nearly 79 percent.

Reports note the phone broke pre-order records domestically, with the Ultra variant alone making up a large part of early sales, largely on the strength of AI features and a new privacy display option.

The iPhone still grew shipments by over 15 percent in the same window, helped along by the budget-friendly iPhone 17e landing in March, right around the same time Samsung was releasing the S26 lineup globally.

Apple dominates Korea’s fourth quarter once new iPhones ship, and last year that spike pushed its quarterly share above 40 percent while Samsung dipped. So this early lead for Samsung isn’t guaranteed to hold through December.

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 1.44 million pre-orders break records of Galaxy S26, Note 10, and all others

Analysts point out that Galaxy phones, once dismissed by younger buyers as something their parents used, are now being seen as design-forward and genuinely innovative.

Whether that momentum survives the iPhone 18 launch and Apple’s rumored foldable is the question everyone in Samsung’s home market is now asking instead.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 foldable lineup is paying off in a big way in Southeast Asia and the Oceania region. The pre-order numbers coming out of the region prove it.

The Galaxy Z8 series has just posted its strongest pre-order run yet, with the Fold 8 Ultra and Fold 8 combined pulling in a 60 percent jump over last year’s Fold 7 device, nearly double the pace Samsung saw globally.

Interestingly, it’s the standard Fold 8, not the Ultra, selling like hotcakes. Samsung says (via Yonhap News) 6 out of 10 pre-order buyers in the region went with the Fold 8 over its pricier sibling.

That tracks with how the phone was built this generation, leaning into short-form video, OTT, and gaming with its wider 4:3 display. Notably, Graphite and Lavender came out on top as the go-to colorways.

Roughly 60 percent of customers picking up a Z8 device fall between their teens and 30s, a signal that foldables are finally breaking out of the early-adopter, premium-buyer bracket and into younger, mainstream territory across the region.

Watches ride the wave too

Alongside the phones, Samsung also released the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Galaxy Watch 9 in the region on the same day, pairing an 800mAh outdoor-focused Ultra with a wellness-centric Watch 9.

Samsung is framing all of this under one banner: a connected Galaxy AI ecosystem tying phones, foldables, and wearables together for the region’s consumers.

Samsung SDS’s AI-powered platform, Brity Works, is being adopted by South Korean government ministries. Nine central government organizations have confirmed plans to use the platform for their daily work.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Planning and Budget started the process in April. Seven other government bodies have also decided to use Brity Works. These include the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Financial Services Commission and Overseas Koreans Agency.

This is part of South Korea’s plan to increase the use of artificial intelligence in government offices. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to expand its AI-based OnAI system to more than 40 central government agencies by the end of this year.

Brity Works offers many work tools in one place. It helps employees search for information, write documents, manage knowledge, send messages, hold video meetings and share files.

Government workers can also use the platform on mobile phones. They can send reports, approve documents, join meetings and get AI-made meeting summaries while away from the office. Samsung SDS said the platform uses a highly secure cloud system.

The company plans to improve Brity Works and connect it more closely with OnAI as South Korea expands the use of AI in government work.