Database Users

no upgrade for i9000m ? fishy

does anyone think it sounds fishy.. if you check on samsung firmware site every other i9000 has froyo update. including african/arabic.. why no north american? I am begining to wonder if it is they know that the newer froyo hastens the bringing to light the defective memory in our phones, and are witholding it for this reason.

The GT-i9000m is a Bell phone, and the firmware will probably be released once Bell tests it and adds their own branding and software.

Its just like down here in AU. Samsung don't release the firmware. Optus will take the firmware, modify it, test it, send it back to Samsung for distribution.

their are more places that don't have 2.2 then that do... so I don't know why you think its fishy...

Agreed, all firmware releases are by the individual carriers who all have their own quality control standards and network testing to conduct. Froyo seems to be progressively being released from East to West so I would expect North American carriers to be amongst the last to officially release. Another thing of consideration is the fact of their being almost all of the Galaxy S variants being carried on Canadian and US carriers.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

Other than the software maybe working better with the m modem there will be nothing new or worth having over some of the current cooked roms. Even then, give it a couple weeks and we will use a cooked rom with that modem and all will be just fantastic. Dont see any reason right now to get worked up over froyo delivery schedules.
Sent from a Bell I9000m running Froyo.

Non for us!!
I live in New Zealand and have a unlocked unbranded i9000 and we have no update. I called samsung and according to the guy they havent worked out how to distribute it/there having trouble rolling it out. Dam it i want it so bad!!!!

Why Samsung does not release the same ICS to all the Notes worldwide?

As you may know, whenever Apple releases an iOS update, all the iPhone around the world get the same update at the same time. There is no need to go through individual carriers. How come Samsung releases ICS to different countries at different time? Also, why the Samsung in each country makes some modifications and release their own version to their local customers?

Apple releases it at the same time cause its the same hardware. Every single note from a different carrier doesn't have the exact same hardware.

ah was about to ask the same question, but Tjsherod could have answered this, good point

Thanks. Why Samsung does not centralize and perhaps also make the same hardware for different carriers? It may be easier to manage that way. An unlocked iPhone works in different countries regardless of which carrier to use.

Because samsung had to use chips not made by them to be able to sell at the us for compatability of Lte. Since in Europe they make everything themselves its a better option. That's why there's different versions. They do it for a reason. Not just because.

Offtopic but not: Fighting the Good Fight. Nougat for our SM-G935U? no love???

seriously.. you'd think that after you pay full price for an unbranded S7 Edge from Samsung you'd get 'access' to Nougat before more carriers since hey, it's already almost vanilla android and has no carrier bloatware? nope.. zero timeline for us.. here's my latest twitter chain w/SamsungUS Support.. it's almost comical.
https://twitter.com/jimmyselix/status/830191588307501056
can others perhaps chime in on twitter to get the point across?

Samsung doesn't care because they prioritize their new flagships

true.. but i will wear them down..

Back when droid was still a fledgling OS trying to compete fiercely against a few other competitors, the issue of Android updates and their delay came up very frequently as an argument against the OS. The basic bone to pick was that Android updates would rarely be rolled out to devices in a timely fashion. The problem gets even worse when you add in carriers to the picture, as most of the big telecoms insist on every update passing through them.
So the process that already took months added on more time delay, with the end result that updates would already be outdated by the time they reached the end user. The Android update situation has slightly improved in a few regards. For one, OEM flagships do get increased attention and accelerated update timelines nowadays, as OEMs try to retain their competitive edge for a few months after the device has launched.
Further, with the introduction of Android security patches as a separate update cycle distinct from the Android OS update, OEMs can incorporate patches and fixes for security vulnerabilities without needing to update the OS for the most part. This gives them more flexibility on how they can incorporate updates as they need not wait for an OS update to be ready just to push forth security patches. With security becoming a recent focus point (not to mention a pressing issue), a dual-pronged approach has worked out very well in favor of Google and BlackBerry doing their best in pushing out regular and timely security updates to supported devices.
Samsung has been doing a good job too, for the most part. Samsung’s Mobile Security Blog is updated periodically to display the latest information such as the Security Patch Bulletin for every month, in addition to the supported devices as well as information on Samsung-specific patches too. The effort is commendable and sets a good standard for the rest of the smartphone industry to follow.
However, what does not set a good standard is Samsung’s partiality against unlocked flagship devices in the USA.
Internationally and generally speaking, all unlocked variants of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge receive regular security updates. Experiences vary with some regions and users getting updates a week or two later than others, but on a general level, most flagships devices from Samsung are on a recent Security Patch.
But in the USA, if you purchased the carrier unlocked phones in the form of the S7 G930U model or S7 Edge G935U model, security updates on your device will come long after carrier variants receive theirs. This time delay extends on to months, as it has come to light that Samsung follows a quarterly update cycle for unlocked Galaxy devices. Users are reporting that the security patch level on unlocked devices is as old as September 2016. In contrast, some US carriers have already pushed the December 2016 carrier update and are in the process of rolling out January 2017 security patches.
To make things worse, the unlocked variants were also left out of the Nougat Beta test.
A primary reason on why the update cycles between the USA variants and the International variants of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge differ is simply because of difference in internal hardware. The International S7 and S7 Edge utilize the Exynos 8890 Octa SoC, while the USA variants of the same make use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC which has support for CDMA technology that US carriers continue to use. This creates a crucial difference between the two variants, and does not allow for easy comparison of update cycles.
On the other hand, there are no internal hardware differences between the carrier variants in the USA and the unlocked variants in the USA. So their update cycles are comparable due to similarity in hardware. Carrier variants would be expected to be updated slower because of the added middleman who needs to approve the update (i.e. add their own bloatware). But as mentioned, the scenario is quite the opposite!
It is unclear why exactly Samsung chooses to push security updates slower than carrier variants, while adopting a quarterly update cycle for unlocked variants elsewhere. One explanation could be carrier pressure or a collaboration arrangement, whereby Samsung promises to provide quicker updates at the insistence of the carrier. The other line of reasoning could be the low number of unlocked devices in the USA, which predominantly sees contract-based sales of smartphones across OEMs.
Either way, the end result is the same — users who purchased the phone at full retail are at a disadvantage against users who opted for a carrier-based contract. While unlocked users can enjoy their carrier-bloat free experience, they do so while staying on older Android versions and security patches.
With the upcoming Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, we hope Samsung clarifies on its security update policy. While they won’t give us our security update, they certainly can not take away our hope.

still fighting the good fight on twitter... anyone else got the S7 Edge update for the USA SM-G935U models? OTA so far has nothing. i'm done w/samsung unlocked phones; your better off going w/a factory branded one sadly... i plan to move back to either sony or apple depending on iphone announcements (however i will be holding onto s7 edge; it is an amazing phone overal still w/microsdxc and waterproofing and headphone jack).

so.. i think it's working.. finally are going to try to get monthly security updates to unlocked models of S7.. feel free to join the fight.. i will not linger!!
http://wccftech.com/samsung-monthly-security-updates-nougat-unlocked-galaxy-s7/

you rock! and get it!
Desterbance said:
Back when droid was still a fledgling OS trying to compete fiercely against a few other competitors, the issue of Android updates and their delay came up very frequently as an argument against the OS. The basic bone to pick was that Android updates would rarely be rolled out to devices in a timely fashion. The problem gets even worse when you add in carriers to the picture, as most of the big telecoms insist on every update passing through them......
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thank you!! i also do not see how the hell they can't release a proper unlocked nougat rom? what do they give say ATT? give us that and we can make it what it needs to be on our own. god i miss the modaco rom ovens they had for paid members; my nexus one rocked some seriously awesome custom backed stock roms

Potential reason for quarterly G930U updates.

Everyone seems to have their own reason for the slow updates for the G930U and I'd like to chime in with mine. This is 100% speculation and I have no proof to back it up, so take it as such. In theory, the G930U should be updated faster as they have already had the OS updates compiled for the device and sent to the carriers for their individual updates. The carriers add all their bloat and remove features from the Samsung Vanilla update. The carriers have to do all their modifying before they release it, which can be time consuming. Since the OS is already complete before the carriers receive it for modifying, why does the Vanilla variant(G930U) take so long???
I believe firmware is the cause for the delays. The G930V firmware is designed to work great on Verizon, and Verizon doesn't care if it works well on T-Mobile, AT&T, or anyone else. The G930T is optimized for T-Mobile, and they don't care if it works well on Verizon or any others. However, the G930U is programmed to work on "ALL" carriers, so firmware has to work well across multiple carriers. I believe the delays in updates are from Samsung working out as many bugs across all the major carriers before releasing it.
I've come to this conclusion from being on U-firmware PEH, then PG9, and most recently PL2. I am on Verizon service and every update works much better than the last. I have heard the same thing from users on AT&T and T-Mobile. This could realistically be a cause for the slow updates, as they have to optimize the firmware to work across many services, whereas the carrier-specific variants are optimized to work on that one specific carrier.
Maybe I'm just being naive. Does anyone else see this as a viable reason for slower updates for the Vanilla device?

you have very good points and i think it could be, but what about the SM-G930F for example, this device is the international variant and is updated frequently across countries and carriers that use the same exact device. How can samsung update that device almost every month but the US unlocked one can only be updated quarterly? My speculation is that since the US had never had an unlocked samsung device, the US carriers didn't really like the idea of samsung selling an open device in their territory and so maybe they only way they would allow it was if samsung committed itself to quarterly updates for the unlocked S8 in the US. As you, i am also speculating but given the way US carriers work i don't think i may be wrong. i do know the carriers may want that the Unlocked version is optimized but i don't think that process takes months to do.

The 930F uses the Exynos processor, correct? If so, I'd suspect they have a lot more hurdles to jump on the G930U firmware with Qualcomm as another important party. The Exynos processor is made in house, so they don't need outside assistance.

Is Samsung treating security seriously? No security patch since January or February

Is Samsung treating security seriously? No security patch since January or February for non carrier-branded (unlocked) S7 Phone?
For Galaxy S7 unlocked phone (so the OTA update does not depend on the carrier) Samsung let his customers with no security patch for 4 or 5 months! Here the list of the last security patch released at the beginning of the month of May:
source: http://samsung-updates.com/device/?id=SM-G930F
February Security Patch:
TTR Austria
BSE Belgium
BGL Bulgary
ETL Czech Rep
NEE Finland
XEF France
XEG Germany
BTU IReland
NEE Iceland
NEE Norway
AUT Switzerland
BTU United Kingdom
XEU United Kingdom
January Security Patch:
EUR Greece
XEH Hungary
ITV Italy
PHN Netherland
XEO Poland
TPH Portugal
ROM Romania
ORX Slovakia
SIO Slovenia
PHE Spain
Please upvote my thread on reddit to try to make Samsung changing is security update timeframe:
https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/68nusi/discussion_is_samsung_treating_security_seriously/

As usual, now they have the S8 out, it will take priority

Please upvote my thread on reddit to try to make Samsung changing is security update timeframe:
https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/68nusi/discussion_is_samsung_treating_security_seriously/
Some S7 carrier branded devices get April patch:
XSA Australia
VIA Germany O2
TMZ Czech Rep. T Mobile
O2U UK O2
etc...
Samsung can skip one month. But four or five for a company placing a great emphasis on security, is not serious. Even more considering they have the patch available (some S7 get the last security patch) and have no carrier limitation to push it (on unlocked phones).

*Detection* said:
As usual, now they have the S8 out, it will take priority
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It is a shame
Today smartphones allow payments, bank access, personal data, is used as a security authentication factor (two factor authentication) etc.
Security must be a priority.
Advanced users know how to avoid security threats. It is not the case for the average user.
When you pay a Smartphone more than 600 Euro from a company that claim security has a priority, you can expect to have update in a reasonable timeframe.

That's the Mar update if I remember. I'm still waiting for nougat. About to give up hope of receiving nougat ever

patarchy said:
Advanced users know how to avoid security threats. It is not the case for the average user..
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Such as? This is a concern for me because I rely heavily on mobile banking and payments.

fullbloom said:
Such as? This is a concern for me because I rely heavily on mobile banking and payments.
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I also rely heavily on mobile banking for professional reasons. This why I am trying Samsung to push the updates in timely manner.
First of all you have to know the infection vectors. The ways you get hacked.
99,9% of the infections request user interaction. Considering remote threats, is basically opening a rogue web page / link or file (attachment, social network, messaging app) and apps with weak security because poorly coded.
Very few attacks do not require user interaction as stagefright that takes profit of MMS auto retrieving media files by default. Disabling auto-retrieve option in MMS settings keep you safe.
To make you open a link or a file, they will use social engineering (sending an e-mail / message to induce you to click. It can come from one of your contact), attack the DNS so the device do not open the right web page (mainly on not-trust/rogue WiFi access or poorly configured home/office routers).
In addition you have to consider hardware (wifi / bluetooth / NFC) and, as above mentioned, apps weaknesses.
In short, the attack surface is vast. Limit-it as much as possible:
Hardware: Always prefer cellular data connections. Do not (or limit as much as possible) the use of WiFi and bluetooth. If you have to use them, switch them off as soon as you don't need them (also switch off the "improve accuracy" in location settings that allow the phone to scan WiFi and BT even when switched off). The same for NFC.
To mitigate the "software" risk you have to know the actual known vulnerabilities. Have a look to the android security bulletin (https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/). Easier to avoid hackers' tricks when you are aware of vulnerabilities. Most of remote vulnerabilities come from media files (video, audio, images). Configure your app not to download them automatically. Whatsapp --> Media auto-download, emails --> disable show image, etc. Use firefox and install No-script add-on.
Limit the apps you install. Prefer widely used one from recognized developers. After using it, just close them (you can automate this with Greenify)
Disable system app that ease sharing / connection with other devices (Wifi direct, nearby device, S Beam, withTV, Mirrorlink, quick connect etc) you do not need​
You may also secure the gmail account on which your device depends on with two factors authentication. Better practice to use a dedicated gmail account just for the device.
Do not forget the basics: Password protected device, update apps and os, do not download apps outside google play, etc.
At the end of the day is a balance between security health practices and benefit from your smartphone's capabilities.

OMG no security patch update....we are going to die!!!!!

Just came out

miko12312 said:
Just came out
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Which version/ country is that?

Djuganight said:
Which version/ country is that?
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G930u universal varent qualcomm all s7 with qualcomm can flash any firmware to any device doesnt matter the carrier thats one reson the bootloader locked the carrier stuff is bloatware

Hope update for exynos come soon. Last update wad on 06 March fruition Marshmallow to Nougat.

I agree Samsung should do it better and force for more but I think it's also very related to regional Samsung departmans. Samsung Turkey released April updates for S7 and S5 in Turkey. 2 years past and S5 is still taking updates regularly in every 2-3 months.

Djuganight said:
Which version/ country is that?
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USA, g930u, I finally got the update too. Months after all carriers released nougat, after the s6 began to receive nougat Samsung finally released for us.

Today i got the update for my G930F unbranded Germany Galaxy S7.
Security Patch is now april

Seem like that Germany and United Kingdom (BTU) are the ones updated more frequently.
I'm on Portugal unbranded (TPH) and the firmware is from 06 March and the security patch is from January
Just been chating with the online support of Samsung Portugal which confirmed that they don't have updates planned for the S7 in the near future... Indeed sad....

Djuganight said:
Seem like that Germany and United Kingdom (BTU) are the ones updated more frequently.
I'm on Portugal unbranded (TPH) and the firmware is from 06 March and the security patch is from January
Just been chating with the online support of Samsung Portugal which confirmed that they don't have updates planned for the S7 in the near future... Indeed sad....
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Noone replied to you so I will do it
Samsung releases software updates regularly, almost monthly, but carriers and factors (if it's the correct word-i am from Greece) in countries can be still late to release their roms. I believe Samsung should apply stricter policies about this.
Until then, granted that someone you are not locked on a specific carrier software and you are familiar with the phone and the computer, you can flash a rom that ia updated regularly. The faster rom for S7 nowadays is PHN.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Nikos Nx said:
Noone replied to you so I will do it
Samsung releases software updates regularly, almost monthly, but carriers and factors (if it's the correct word-i am from Greece) in countries can be still late to release their roms. I believe Samsung should apply stricter policies about this.
Until then, granted that someone you are not locked on a specific carrier software and you are familiar with the phone and the computer, you can flash a rom that ia updated regularly. The faster rom for S7 nowadays is PHN.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
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Not really, Samsung are terrible at releasing updates, XEU is Unbranded meaning we don't wait for Carriers, we wait for Samsung, Last update was Octobers (Pushed out in November) and before that was August
Samsung are one of the worst OEMs for pushing out updates, always have been