Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets will receive an upgrade to Android 4 or Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012, the company has announced.
The first two devices (as previously announced) to receive the upgrade will be Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy Note, and this should occur sometime in the first quarter of 2012.
Other devices will “soon follow,” says Samsung. The full lineup of ICS-upgradeable devices at this point includes the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II LTE, Galaxy Note, Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 7.7, and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.
Samsung will give out separate announcements for each device, detailing OS update schedule for individual markets.
Other manufacturers have announced ICS upgrades for their flagship smartphones as well. HTC recently announced that Ice Cream Sandwich is coming to several of its smartphones in early 2012. Motorola’s Droid Razr will get to the latest version of Android in early 2012.
(mashable.com)
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Selasa, 20 Desember 2011
Senin, 19 Desember 2011
Google hands out custom Galaxy Nexus to workers
Apparently, all the folks that work for Google in the London and Zurich offices are getting a really nice Christmas gift from the search giant. The workers in the locations are being given a customized version of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone. The customization isn’t just software on the phone. The custom Google phones have a special back plate that has Android and G+ icons all over it.
All the workers had to get in a line to get hands on their new smartphones. I wonder if Google is covering the mobile service as well. It’s not clear at this point if all Google employees everywhere are getting the Galaxy Nexus, but that is the assumption.
The backplate is extra geeky. I wonder how many of these smartphones will turn up on eBay in a few months. These are cool Christmas gifts, yet another reason working at Google would be really cool.
(slashgear.com)
All the workers had to get in a line to get hands on their new smartphones. I wonder if Google is covering the mobile service as well. It’s not clear at this point if all Google employees everywhere are getting the Galaxy Nexus, but that is the assumption.
The backplate is extra geeky. I wonder how many of these smartphones will turn up on eBay in a few months. These are cool Christmas gifts, yet another reason working at Google would be really cool.
(slashgear.com)
Selasa, 13 Desember 2011
Samsung Galaxy S Line Spurs 300M Global Handset Sales
Thanks in part to sales of its popular Galaxy S and Galaxy S II Android smartphones, Samsung has broken its own record by selling 300 million handsets--and counting--in 2011.
Samsung also said sales of smartphones powered by its own bada operating system are picking up steam worldwide, thanks in part to its refreshed bada 2.0 build. The flagship Wave 3 bada phone is available in Europe and "continues to gain sales traction in all its launch markets," Samsung said.
Bada phones aren't available in the United States, where Samsung's Android models draw much attention from rivals such as Motorola Mobility and HTC. Samsung began selling the Galaxy S line in 2010 and has now sold more than 20 million of those handsets to date, excluding the typically busy December shopping month.
The phone maker began selling the much-ballyhooed successor, the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution)-equipped Galaxy S II, in April. By September, the company sold more than 10 million S II units
, its fastest mobile device sold in the company's history.
"We are incredibly proud of this record-breaking sales milestone and have exceeded the annual target announced early this year, which is testament to the enduring appeal of Samsung phones with consumers around the world," said JK Shin, president and head of Samsung's mobile communications business.
AT&T (NYSE:T), Sprint (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile all sell Galaxy S II models, which sport anywhere from 1.2GHz to 1.5GHz dual-core processors paired with 4.3-inch to 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus displays. These devices compete with Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4S smartphone, which itself has helped AT&T to its single strongest smartphone sales in a quarter.
One of the ways Samsung has helped its own cause versus the iPhone 4S has been its "The Next Big Thing Is Already Here" ad and marketing campaign, which touts the 4G LTE speeds and larger screen size of the Galaxy S II handsets compared to the iPhone 4S.
Samsung also took a shot at Apple's reputation as a maker of devices for "creative" types, a meme that started with Macintosh computers for graphic artists.
Not everything is going Samsung's way. The company launched its Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone in the U.K. in November and expected to watch Verizon launch its version of the first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone the week of Dec. 5.
Unfortunately, Verizon and Google are locked in negotiations regarding the inclusion of the Google Wallet mobile payment application on the phone. Verizon is concerned with the app's security.
Hold-up notwithstanding, Best Buy and Verizon stores accidentally sold some Galaxy Nexus handsets to some lucky consumers.
(eweek.com)
Samsung also said sales of smartphones powered by its own bada operating system are picking up steam worldwide, thanks in part to its refreshed bada 2.0 build. The flagship Wave 3 bada phone is available in Europe and "continues to gain sales traction in all its launch markets," Samsung said.
Bada phones aren't available in the United States, where Samsung's Android models draw much attention from rivals such as Motorola Mobility and HTC. Samsung began selling the Galaxy S line in 2010 and has now sold more than 20 million of those handsets to date, excluding the typically busy December shopping month.
The phone maker began selling the much-ballyhooed successor, the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution)-equipped Galaxy S II, in April. By September, the company sold more than 10 million S II units
, its fastest mobile device sold in the company's history.
"We are incredibly proud of this record-breaking sales milestone and have exceeded the annual target announced early this year, which is testament to the enduring appeal of Samsung phones with consumers around the world," said JK Shin, president and head of Samsung's mobile communications business.
AT&T (NYSE:T), Sprint (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile all sell Galaxy S II models, which sport anywhere from 1.2GHz to 1.5GHz dual-core processors paired with 4.3-inch to 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus displays. These devices compete with Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4S smartphone, which itself has helped AT&T to its single strongest smartphone sales in a quarter.
One of the ways Samsung has helped its own cause versus the iPhone 4S has been its "The Next Big Thing Is Already Here" ad and marketing campaign, which touts the 4G LTE speeds and larger screen size of the Galaxy S II handsets compared to the iPhone 4S.
Samsung also took a shot at Apple's reputation as a maker of devices for "creative" types, a meme that started with Macintosh computers for graphic artists.
Not everything is going Samsung's way. The company launched its Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone in the U.K. in November and expected to watch Verizon launch its version of the first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone the week of Dec. 5.
Unfortunately, Verizon and Google are locked in negotiations regarding the inclusion of the Google Wallet mobile payment application on the phone. Verizon is concerned with the app's security.
Hold-up notwithstanding, Best Buy and Verizon stores accidentally sold some Galaxy Nexus handsets to some lucky consumers.
(eweek.com)
Minggu, 11 Desember 2011
Samsung Series 7 Slate PC – First look
We’ve seen a lot of tablets hit the market over the last year or two. Most run Google Android, iOS, or other operating systems designed for mobile devices. The Samsung Series 7 Slate is something different. It’s a Windows 7 tablet that takes full advantage of the touch-based features in the operating system, and which has hardware powerful enough to provide a pretty good Windows experience.
Those extra features come at a price. Tehe Series 7 Slate sells for $1149 and up .
Samsung loaned me a demo unit of to test, and while I’ve only spent a few days with the tablet so far I wanted to share a few initial thoughts. We’ll have a full review coming soon.
It’s not just the operating system that sets the Series 7 apart from the Android tablets I’ve reviewed recently. It’s what you can do with the tablet. Since it runs a full version of Windows 7 you can run full desktop apps including Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and more. But Samsung also includes a finger-friendly app launcher and a handful of apps that run in full screen mode, much as they would on an Android, iOS, BlackBerry, or webOS tablet.
So at times, it’s actually a little tough to really tell the difference between the Series 7 and a much cheaper tablet. For instance, you can use the web browser to scroll through pages with your fingers or pinch-to-zoom. The browser feels a little faster than the one you’d get on a cheaper tablet, but the experience isn’t that different.
Where things do start to get different is when you exist the finger-friendly UI and start using a stylus to navigate the Windows 7 desktop experience. The tablet has a capacitive touchscreen display for finger input, but it also has an active digitizer that works with a digital pen.
This allows you to tap the screen with more precision, draw pictures with pressure-sensitive input, click or right-click, and generally use the Series 7 almost as easily as you could if you were using a computer with a keyboard and mouse.
Samsung also bundles a version of the Swype digital keyboard with the tablet. So if you don’t want to use the built-in Windows keyboard or handwriting recognition function you can pull up Swype and enter words by swiping your finger from letter to letter without lifting your finger from the screen.
Up until recently Swype was only available as an Android app, but I find it much easier to use than the default Windows keyboard. Unfortunately it has a way of taking over the input panel and popping up when you don’t need it, or when you’d rather use the Windows handwriting feature.
Samsung also loaned me the optional docking station and wireless keyboard which really does make the Series 7 into a sort of desktop computer. The 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display is about the same size as the screen on my laptop, and I can imagine getting some serious work done with this setup. There’s also a full-sized USB port so I could plug in a mouse as well.
At nearly 2 pounds the Series 7 is a lot heavier than most Android or iOS tablets. The widescreen display is also wide enough that the device feels a bit odd when held in portrait mode. But at 0.5 inches thick, the Series 7 Slate is pretty svelte, even by modern tablet standards. It also feels very sturdy.
The unit I’m reviewing has a 64GB solid state disk, 4GB of memory, and a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-2467M processor. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium and has a Windows Experience Index f 4.6.
I’ve found that at times the back of the tablet can get a little warm to the touch and the fan can be a little noisy when it kicks in to try and cool the computer down.
But so far the Samsung Series 7 is the fastest, most responsive Windows 7 tablet I’ve spent any appreciable time with — although to be fair, I’ve mostly spent my time with low-end computers with Intel Atom processors.
Is the Samsung Series 7 Slate worth more than twice as much as those devices thanks to the faster processor, higher quality screen, active digitizer and other features? It’s hard to say.
It’s definitely easy to justify spending more money to get those features. But $1149 is a lot of money to spend on a computer when you can pick up an iPad for $499, an Amazon Kindle Fire for $200, or a netbook for under $300.
I have a hard time imagining the Series 7 Slate unseating any of those devices. But it feels like a solid niche product that’s going to appeal to customers that really need to be able to draw on a tablet or use a stylus for other reasons, as well as customers that need to run Windows software rather than mobile apps on their portable tablet-style devices.
(liliputing.com)
Those extra features come at a price. Tehe Series 7 Slate sells for $1149 and up .
Samsung loaned me a demo unit of to test, and while I’ve only spent a few days with the tablet so far I wanted to share a few initial thoughts. We’ll have a full review coming soon.
It’s not just the operating system that sets the Series 7 apart from the Android tablets I’ve reviewed recently. It’s what you can do with the tablet. Since it runs a full version of Windows 7 you can run full desktop apps including Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and more. But Samsung also includes a finger-friendly app launcher and a handful of apps that run in full screen mode, much as they would on an Android, iOS, BlackBerry, or webOS tablet.
So at times, it’s actually a little tough to really tell the difference between the Series 7 and a much cheaper tablet. For instance, you can use the web browser to scroll through pages with your fingers or pinch-to-zoom. The browser feels a little faster than the one you’d get on a cheaper tablet, but the experience isn’t that different.
Where things do start to get different is when you exist the finger-friendly UI and start using a stylus to navigate the Windows 7 desktop experience. The tablet has a capacitive touchscreen display for finger input, but it also has an active digitizer that works with a digital pen.
This allows you to tap the screen with more precision, draw pictures with pressure-sensitive input, click or right-click, and generally use the Series 7 almost as easily as you could if you were using a computer with a keyboard and mouse.
Samsung also bundles a version of the Swype digital keyboard with the tablet. So if you don’t want to use the built-in Windows keyboard or handwriting recognition function you can pull up Swype and enter words by swiping your finger from letter to letter without lifting your finger from the screen.
Up until recently Swype was only available as an Android app, but I find it much easier to use than the default Windows keyboard. Unfortunately it has a way of taking over the input panel and popping up when you don’t need it, or when you’d rather use the Windows handwriting feature.
Samsung also loaned me the optional docking station and wireless keyboard which really does make the Series 7 into a sort of desktop computer. The 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display is about the same size as the screen on my laptop, and I can imagine getting some serious work done with this setup. There’s also a full-sized USB port so I could plug in a mouse as well.
At nearly 2 pounds the Series 7 is a lot heavier than most Android or iOS tablets. The widescreen display is also wide enough that the device feels a bit odd when held in portrait mode. But at 0.5 inches thick, the Series 7 Slate is pretty svelte, even by modern tablet standards. It also feels very sturdy.
The unit I’m reviewing has a 64GB solid state disk, 4GB of memory, and a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-2467M processor. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium and has a Windows Experience Index f 4.6.
I’ve found that at times the back of the tablet can get a little warm to the touch and the fan can be a little noisy when it kicks in to try and cool the computer down.
But so far the Samsung Series 7 is the fastest, most responsive Windows 7 tablet I’ve spent any appreciable time with — although to be fair, I’ve mostly spent my time with low-end computers with Intel Atom processors.
Is the Samsung Series 7 Slate worth more than twice as much as those devices thanks to the faster processor, higher quality screen, active digitizer and other features? It’s hard to say.
It’s definitely easy to justify spending more money to get those features. But $1149 is a lot of money to spend on a computer when you can pick up an iPad for $499, an Amazon Kindle Fire for $200, or a netbook for under $300.
I have a hard time imagining the Series 7 Slate unseating any of those devices. But it feels like a solid niche product that’s going to appeal to customers that really need to be able to draw on a tablet or use a stylus for other reasons, as well as customers that need to run Windows software rather than mobile apps on their portable tablet-style devices.
(liliputing.com)
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