Samsung rides Galaxy S7 sales to record profits

Samsung is doing a bit of a celebratory end-zone dance thanks in part to the success of its Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones. On Thursday the Korean tech giant announced preliminary earnings that show a 17 percent jump in profits year over year. This is a stark contrast to Apple’s earnings report in April that showed the company’s first revenue decline in 13 years. So at this point time let’s go ahead and crown Samsung the smartphone champion. The S7 phones are awesome devices and they’re being purchased at record rates… but Apple isn’t taking this lying down. Or maybe they are. iOS users gobbled up the iPhone 6 a mere two years ago, but the 6s didn’t set the world afire. Will the iPhone 7 flip the script and put Apple back on top? We’ll find out in 2 months.

Facebook’s desire to spread internet access into developing countries took another step forward this week. OpenCellular is Facebook’s open-source system to boost cell coverage in the rural villages and towns of developing nations. It centers on this inexpensive and rugged base station. It’s built to withstand extreme weather conditions and temperatures, and can be affixed to practically any tall structure, a tree, or even from a pole just a few feet off the ground. The base stations handle signals from 2G and LTE to Wi-Fi and can be powered from a wide variety of sources.

The MicroSD is indispensable if you’re using a GoPro or want a smartphone with removable storage. Now Samsung just fit 256 gigabytes of flash storage in a card just as small — that’s basically the hard drive of an entry-level MacBook packed into a device about as big as your thumbnail. It’s called Universal Flash Storage, and Samsung says they boast performance that’s five times faster than the best MicroSD card. These cards are going to make recording and accessing large files like 4K and 360 degree video lightning quick. The only problem is, there aren’t any devices out there yet that can actually use them right now. But don’t worry, we’re guessing the next generation of GoPros and the like will get this all figured out in time for Christmas.

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