Samsung has Black Friday deals on phones, smartwatches and tablets coming soon

A few gadgets are already on special sale at Samsung's official US e-store, with many other Black Friday deals coming November 19 and 23.

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Select Samsung Gear wearables are finally properly compatible with iPhones

While Google and Apple reached a somewhat surprising agreement way back in August 2015 for the latter’s iPhones to support the former’s Android Wear smartwatches, getting Samsung Gear wearables to work alongside iOS handhelds has proven a far lengthier, more complicated and fickle process.

It’s been over a year since we first heard credible-sounding word of imminent official compatibility for the Gear S2 (to begin with), and after Verizon’s false start last spring, the only small step forward came in pre-release beta form near the end of summer.

Now it’s full-on winter, not to mention a new year, and traditional arch-rivals Samsung and Apple join hands at long last for most relatively new iPhones to properly support a trio of wrist-worn Gear devices.

Specifically, you can use the Gear S2 and S3 smartwatches in combination with an iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 6, 6 Plus, 5s, 5c or 5 running iOS 9.0 and above by downloading the official Samsung Gear S app from the Apple App Store. Also, feel free to sync up the Gear Fit 2 fitness band to any of the aforementioned iPhones through its own Samsung Gear Fit companion app.

Features and functions “will vary by device”, and you may still be best served by an Android phone connected to a Gear wearable. But it’s always nice to have (non-beta) options. Now if only you could also combine a Galaxy S7 with an Apple Watch…

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Spotify gets on Gear S3 and S2, finally

For many Spotify users who just so happen to own a Samsung Gear smartwatch, there finally is an app for the tiny medium for Tizen that lets them control their music playback and even start up new playlists from browsing categories.

The app is available from the Galaxy Apps store for some Gear S3 and Gear S2 users right now with more users coming in later.

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Certified refurbished Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch available for crazy low $110 today only

Two separate Samsung Gear S2-centric news stories in one day? That must be a first, or at least a very unique situation last year’s Tizen flagship wearable hasn’t faced since, well, the fall of 2015.

It’s definitely an unexpected and welcome fresh wave of attention for a smartwatch that’s otherwise clearly overshadowed by a prettier, more powerful and versatile successor. Of course, you can’t buy a brand-new Gear S3 for just $250, and it’s way too early to dream of compelling refurbished deals.

The S2, meanwhile, costs as little as $110, yes, $110 on bargain-specialized website Dailysteals, 60 day warranty included. You’re obviously looking at a small batch of pre-owned, certified refurbished dark gray units here, up for grabs with a massive $190 discount or so compared to the watch’s list price today only.

It’s important to highlight that refurb Gear S2 models can be routinely found at retailers and e-tailers like Best Buy and Amazon too, but never cheaper than $140. Technically, the variant sold through Dailysteals also features 3G support for independent initiation and reception of voice calls on Verizon, though you should be able to use the R730V sans carrier commitments with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Remember, the Samsung Gear S2 now greatly resembles the newer, better Gear S3 from a software standpoint, coming with beta Samsung Pay and iOS compatibility as well. Bottom line, you get a whole lot for a little over a Benjamin.

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Samsung Gear S2 scores major ‘Value Pack’ update centered on Gear S3 functions

While they generally tend to make far fewer headlines than full Android version smartphone updates, major smartwatch software renovations can be just as important for their still limited user base. In a way, they could even be considered more valuable, since both the Android Wear and Tizen experience remain rather rudimentary and phone-dependent.

Case in point, Samsung’s late 2015-debuted Gear S2, first refreshed with a substantial “Value Pack” back in July, and again today, December 5, in “major markets”, worldwide availability following in the “coming weeks.”

Granted, we wouldn’t exactly deem this 130MB or so update quite as feature-packed as Google’s delayed Android Wear 2.0 goodie kit headed for a number of Gear S2 rivals in early 2017. But it’s still a pretty big deal.

Changelog highlights include “more opportunities to personalize your smartwatch and add to its convenience”, a new Handwriting Mode in Korean, English or Chinese for Gear S2’s native Messages app, advanced activity tracking functionality, third-party widgets from Uber, Yelp and USA Today, “streamlined” safety, as well as access to fun little games like Stack or Monster Vampire.

In a nutshell, you’re basically getting the Gear S3’s user interface, experiences and all preloaded watch faces at a lower price point. Namely, $250 in a standard configuration on Amazon, or $300 as far as the Samsung Gear S2 Classic is concerned. Too bad the Samsung Pay beta program is still not open for Galaxy outsiders on Gear S3’s revised predecessor.

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Early Korean Samsung Gear S3 sales suggest slight uptick over 2015 Gear S2 results

What kind of sales numbers are good enough numbers for smartwatches these days? Clearly, initial expectations for the still fledgling, increasingly struggling market were unrealistically optimistic, as even the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world might be looking at a shocking year-on-year demand decline.

Meanwhile, Samsung isn’t doing very poorly by its comparatively humbler standards, likely taking advantage of near-complete recent silence on the Android Wear release front. Yes, the Gear S3 is shaping up as a (moderate) box-office hit, both domestically and internationally.

It’s obviously too early for even rough estimations in European countries or the US, but on Korean shores, the latest circular Tizen timepiece has been out and about for a good ten days now. Enough to already reach the 25,000 unit milestone, which means around 2.5K sold every 24 hours or so.

No words on whether the Frontier flavor perhaps eclipsed the popularity of the Samsung Gear S3 Classic or the other way around so far, but we remember a report from the same exact Asian publication as today counting an average of 2,000 Gear S2 units ordered daily in South Korea a year back.

Samsung smartwatch sales are therefore on a (marginal) upswing, which is probably the best you can hope for, given the circumstances.

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Samsung unveils wide but underwhelming range of upcoming Black Friday deals

If Samsung perhaps didn’t need Black Friday blowouts in past years to get people excited about the company’s super-successful flagship phones for the holidays, we kinda sorta assumed 2016 would be different.

But it looks like all those Note 7-redeeming discounts on the S7 and S7 Edge got the chaebol prematurely out of the celebratory mood, at least stateside. There’s still a bunch of deals in the pipeline, some rolling out as early as November 18, others on the 20th, and a couple saved for a 28th Cyber Monday start.

Unfortunately, we don’t see anything about additional GS7 cuts previewed on Samsung’s US website. Just certified pre-owned S6 and S6 Edge units slated to cost $400 and $450 respectively before long, a fairly disappointing $70 Gear VR (2015) promo, $150 Gear Fit 2 wearable, $230 Gear S2, $250 S2 Classic, and $300 Gear S3 smartwatches.

The very recently released Gear S3 is the only one we’d wholeheartedly recommend you purchase next week at a $50 markdown in Classic or Frontier derivations, while the tablet selection on sale will include a $400 Galaxy View, $250 Tab A 10.1 with S Pen, $200 standard Tab A 10.1, $150 Tab E 9.6, and $100 Tab A 7.0. Good thing third-party retailers are always in a giving mood this time of year.

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Samsung Gear S2 software update leaves many without email notifications

One great feature of the Tizen-enabled Samsung Gear wearables is that you can read the full text of an email and decide to delete, sort or even reply right from your smartwatch. Unfortunately, Gear S2 owners won’t have that privilege for a while.

Users are reporting issues since the latest Gear Manager app update that causes email notifications to not show content and metadata “for security reasons,” thus prompting users to their phones. Some have reported this glitch happening for their Gmail and Exchange accounts while others with those services have reported no major issues with the latest update.

It is unknown if Samsung is aware of the bug and is working toward a solution. On the other hand, Samsung Pay did get extended to 3G versions of the Gear S2, so there’s that.

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Garmin is the lone winner of a disastrous Q3 smartwatch report, as Apple and Lenovo crash and burn

Smartwatches showed so much promise and garnered a crazy amount of buzz back in the day, but not even Apple was able to keep the hype up for long in lack of clear use cases and compelling selling points.Now, granted, intelligent timepieces with attractive built-in features including GPS trackers and cellular radios that allow them to break free of connected smartphones are slowly starting to multiply at last. Then you have a number of fashion brands willing to diversify the industry and go after luxury-loving audiences, though it might already be too little, too late.At least as far as ...

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Samsung makes long overdue jump from 28 to 14nm wearable processors with Exynos 7270

Back in February, Qualcomm made a pretty big fuss over the Snapdragon Wear 2100 SoC, which was supposed to usher in the “next era of wearables.” Namely, smartwatches, previously powered mainly by the Snapdragon 400 processor, which was hardly a beast to begin with in 2013, not to mention it of course started out as a product designed specifically for smartphone use.Bottom line, we were certainly ready to welcome the 2100 with open arms, but unfortunately, that “next wave” of smartwatches,

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We thought the Samsung Gear S2 iOS beta wouldn’t happen, but it’s happening

Samsung, delivering software at the speed of sound. Dull, throbbing noise through thick layers of foam and lead. Like, seriously, this would’ve been useful way before the time when you’re about to launch the next iteration of your Gear S lineup. ...

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Super-sweet eBay sale has refurbished Samsung Gear S2 going for $100 ($200+ off)

Whether you’re convinced wearable devices are the next big thing, or still doubt their practicality but could be swayed into giving them a shot at the right price, this is hands down the best time to buy yesteryear’s top smartwatches.The Huawei Watch, Moto 360 and Samsung Gear S2 have never been cheaper ...

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Apple Watch 2 cellular antennas perhaps just wishful thinking

The success of a first-generation product can be characterized by the hype that’s built around a sequel. That’s been the case for the Apple Watch as we’ve been itching to get our wrists inside of the band of an Apple Watch 2.One thing that we may not look forward to after much ...

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Samsung sends Gear S3-alluding invites for IFA 2016 event on September 1

Even with Galaxy Note 5’s number-skipping sequel unveiled a little earlier than initially anticipated, at a dedicated press gathering in New York City, we never really doubted Samsung still had something left up its sleeve for Berlin’s IFA trade show.At least two somethings, apparently, both far less exciting and headline-grabbing than the first dual-edged S Pen phablet,

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