Showing posts with label Samsung. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samsung. Show all posts

Friday, December 30, 2011

Nielsen: Samsung, Motorola and HTC Top Five in Recent Smartphone Market Share

Nielsen’s ringing in with their end-of-the-year lists of top brands, companies and web destinations. One that caught our eye, of course, was the smartphone manufacturer chart.
They pulled data from the months of August 2011 through October 2011. This isn’t overall OEM market share but gives an idea of the trends that were developing leading into the holiday season.

At the top of the chart was Apple taking up 29% of the sales throughout this period, but HTC is not far behind with 21%. RIM, surprisingly, is sitting at 17%, ahead of Samsung and Motorola who both have 11% each.
It would be nice to get an idea of how these numbers stacked up through Christmas but those numbers will make their way to the forefront soon enough. To see more figures (such as top web brands and top destinations for watching online video) visit Nielsen’s site here.

Samsung Epic 4G, LG Optimus 3D and More Gain CM7 Support

Some new devices have finally been added to CyanogenMod’s list of supported devices. We’ve got the Samsung EPIC 4G and LG Optimus 3D as notable additions. We’re also seeing support for the LG Optimus Black, Optimus Hub and Optimus Pro. These devices are on the list for CM7, of course, though we don’t expect all of these to be absent from CM9′s party sometime down the line. (The first two we mentioned are definitely high up on that “probability” list.) Head over to CyanogenMod’s site for the downloads. [Thanks to all the excited Epic 4G owners who sent this in!]

Verizon Wireless Discounted Galaxy Nexus Battery Now 50% Off – $20 For A Limited Time

If your recent Galaxy Nexus purchase found the battery life to be a bit… lacking, I have some good news. Verizon Wireless has the official Samsung — NFC enabled — 1850 mAh batter for only $20. That’s half-off the original asking price! Let me tell you, there’s nothing quite as liberating as having a spare battery at hand. Still a bit expensive for a regular ‘ol battery (you can get a 3-pack from China for half that price) but that’s the price you pay to keep full NFC capabilities intact.We have no idea how long this deal will last so you may want to hurry.
[Verizon Wireless]
Via Droid-Life

Samsung Conquer 4G Discounting To $50 In January Sprint – Offers You Another One FREE With Purchase

Sprint is trying to kick off 2012 into high gear with a new winter promotion starting next month. From January 8th through March 10th, new or existing Sprint customers (with an upgrade) can get a Samsung Conquer 4G at the discounted price of $50 but that’s not all — it also comes with a matching Conquer for free. Deals always sound more fun with you throw BOGO into the mix and you could do a lot worse than the Conquer 4G. As a refresher for anyone suddenly interested in the device, the Conquer features a 3.5-inch screen, 1GHz 2nd gen Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM and connectivity to Sprint’s 4G WiMax network (where available). Not too shabby for $25 a pop when you buy two.
[Via SprintFeed]

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Samsung Ships 1 Million Galaxy Notes Globally – Promises US Release Coming Soon

With all the complaints I’ve seen in our comments sections about devices being too large, who knew there would be such a huge market for tabletphones/phoneblets like Samsung’s Galaxy Note.
The Korean phone maker announced today that they have shipped over 1 million units globally of the device since its October launch (not to be confused with actual sales) to countries in Europe and Asia but the device is still nowhere to be found here in the US where we tend to like our phones the same way we like our cars and women — BIG.
Samsung did confirm that a US launch is coming soon but didn’t give any specifics on a carrier or launch date. Although, current rumors and leaked FCC docs place the device on AT&T sometime next year. Anyone looking to make this beast their next purchase?

[Via SammyHub]

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Samsung Aims to Sell 150 Million Smartphones in 2012

Korea Economic Daily is raising their sales forecast for Samsung by 15 percent, bringing total projected handset sales to 374 million. Of those handsets, 150 million are expected to be smartphones. To put the figure into perspective, Samsung was projected to move 300 million units this year, a figure that was easily surpassed thanks to strong sales of their Android-based Galaxy S lineup. Samsung continues to close the gap with the world’s current leading handset manufacturer, Nokia. The Finnish handset maker is projected to sell around 399 million mobile phones.
[via SammyHub]

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Samsung Galaxy S III Coming In February 2012?

We have been hearing rumors about Samsung’s third generation Galaxy S smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S III over the last few months, and now according to a recent report Samsung are expected to unveil the Galaxy S III in February.
The Samsung Galaxy S III is expected to be announced at Mobile World Congress 2012, which takes place next February, and we suspect it will be even more popular than the Galaxy S II.

We don’t as yet have any official specifications on the Samsung Galaxy S III, from what we heard before it may either come with a quad core 1.5GHz processor or Samsung’s new dual core 2GHz Exynos 5250 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 4.65 inch HD display with a 1280 x 720 resolution similar to the Galaxy Nexus.
We are looking forward to seeing what the official specifications will be on the Samsung Galaxy S III when it is announced next year, as soon as we get some more information we will let you guys know.


Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 CM9 preview build available [ICS]

An unofficial preview build of CyanogenMOD 9 (based on Android 4.0.3) for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi has been released at XDA. This is purely a preview build, full of bugs, certainly not meant for daily usage.
If you want to have a look at what is coming in CM9, then you can take a shot at this build but make sure to do a full Nandroid backup. Installation process is pretty easy; you just need to have the latest CWM recovery. Do a backup, full wipe and install ROM. There is no clarity on what hardware components are actually working in this build, but according to users till now, Automatic screen rotation and camera are not working, graphics are also buggy.
You can grab the download from here.

Samsung, DoCoMo reportedly close to mobile chip joint venture

Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo is planning to make a move into mobile chipsets, with the carrier said to be close to sealing a joint venture with Samsung, Panasonic, Fujitsu and NEC, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Rumours originally arose in September but, this time around, sources have provided more specific details. Talks between partners are said to be close to completion, with DoCoMo set to take a majority stake in the venture to develop mobile chipsets, which is slated to be set up by March 2012.
The move will be a significant one, as it will offer Samsung — which has seen record sales in 2011 — a new option for the chipsets to, as sources claim, “reduce dependence on Qualcomm”. Currently the Korean maker uses a range of suppliers, but chiefly Qualcomm, whose licensing charges have been the subject of litigation and controversy in the past.
When the joint venture is up and running, Samsung, Panasonic (which is planning a smartphone comeback) and others, will be able to lean on a new vendor for technology, or use it to attempt to drive down the price of chips and technology from Qualcomm and others.
However, as a dedicated chipset specialist, Qualcomm has developed a range of industry leading technology, which the new JV will need to compete with in order to gain market share outside of its partners.
DoCoMo is being tipped to make an imment announcement on the subject, so we hope to have more details very soon.

Samsung transparent LCD panel

Transparent LCD panels are more often than not the stuff of sci-fi movies, but will they ever make it to our realm and dimension? It seems that the stuff you normally see on the silver screen is now about to arrive in real life, thanks to South Korean technology giants Samsung. We are talking about the Samsung LTI460AP01 transparent LCD, where it obviously works differently from regular LCDs in order to get the job done. Standard LCD panels require BLUs (Back Light Units) as a light source so that they are able to display an image, making BLUs an essential part of a LCD panel. As for transparent LCDs, it does away with BLUs but relies on other available light sources instead such as sunlight and in-door lighting. What about when you prefer watching your movies in the dark? Just activate the transparent BLU, and you are good to go.
This looks set to be quite the hit in markets, and hotels who want to up the ante by offering the latest and the greatest to its guests might also look into transparent LCD panels. Energy efficiency in a transparent LCD display is also rather impressive – whenever the transparent BLU is not activated, the transparent LCD consumes a mere 10% of the electricity that is required by a standard LCD screen of equivalent size.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Pro Tip: Take Photos During Video Recording with the Galaxy Nexus

With Android 4.0′s updated camera software, the Galaxy Nexus has quite a few tricks up its sleeve for blossoming photographers. Time lapse video and sweeping panoramic views are just the tip of the ice berg. Here’s one feature that you will hopefully be as pleasantly surprised to discover as I was.
While using the camera in video mode, tapping the screen will take a snapshot of the scene without interrupting video recording (a red box around the viewfinder means you’re doing it right). Results aren’t as instant as when using the camera in photo mode and you lack the ability to refine the shot’s focus and adjust other parameters, but the functionality insures the best of both worlds, allowing you to capture life’s precious moments without missing a beat. Opinions may vary on the image quality of the Galaxy Nexus’ 5MP camera, but you can’t argue with the rich set of capabilities Google has built into the Ice Cream Sandwich software.
[via Reddit]

Custom ROM Makes ICS Face Unlock Available to Nexus S Users

What’s better than unlocking your phone with your finger? Unlocking your phone with your FACE. And now even the Nexus S will drop its lockscreen at the sight of your beautiful face. A custom ROM is necessary (of course), but the best Galaxy Nexus party trick is available for both the GSM Nexus S and the Nexus S 4G. The available ROMs are based off of the Android 4.0.3 AOSP release and the installation journey begins at the source link below. Don’t call it a gimmick, it’s the future!
[via AndroidCentral]

Android clear winner of 2011 Smartphones race

The year 2011 has been a great year for Android based smartphone manufacturers. Handset makers like Samsung, HTC, Sony & Motorola lead the Android handset market. Special mention goes to Samsung's Galaxy series of Android phones. The series boasts various range of Android smartphones for everyone ranging from 5000 INR to 30,000 INR.

According to Business Standard, Samsung Galaxy S II, priced at 30,100 INR has broken all the records. It not only became a hot-favourite of reviewers across the globe but also managed to hold ground against Apple’s smartphones. It seems to be one of the most powerful and user-friendly Android phones. Its 8MP camera is a very good replacement for a pocket camcorder.

Other Android phones which lead the list of Smartphones along with Galaxy SII & Apple 4S are HTC Sensation XL, Motorola Razr & Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc S.

  • Samsung Galaxy S II
  • Apple 4S
  • HTC Sensation XL
  • Motoroal Razr
  • Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc S

Let us know which one do you think is the best and why?


Saturday, December 24, 2011

Samsung to launch 3D Android phones next year, Galaxy S3 to feature quad-core processor

Samsung is planning to launch 3D Android smartphones next year. Company is actively working on the next generation of 3D technology to integrate in these smartphones, they won’t just provide 3D display, but will also help you play 3D games, record 3D movies and work with 3D TVs.
Apart from these new 3D devices, Samsung might also include the technology in Galaxy S III. According to ETnews, it is however not final till now whether Galaxy S3 will come with 3D or not, but in order to procure 3D components at a major level, Samsung would need six months and that would delay the S3 launch. Thus Galaxy S 3D (tentative name) might be company’s first 3D Android phone, which is expected to launch in Q2, 2012.
Korean publication further stated that Galaxy S III announcement is currently scheduled for Mobile World Congress with availability in April. S3 is expected to feature a quad core processor; but there is no word on other specifications, which we suspect would include Android 4.0 and at least 4.5 inch display.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Samsung Galaxy S II Duos Headed to China with Dual GSM/CDMA Support

After revealing a duo of dual-SIM handsets yesterday in the form of the Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos, Samsung will add to their lineup of handsets with expanded radio capabilities. A new variation on the Samsung Galaxy S II is headed to China and will support both GSM and CDMA2000. The phone is known as — you guessed it — the Samsung Galaxy S II Duos. The specs largely mirror previous GS2 iterations and include a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, and 8MP camera with 1080p video recording. The phone ships with Android 2.3 but should be in line for an Ice Cream Sandwich update along with other members of the Galaxy S II roster. The world phone will be available from China Telecom.
[Samsung via GSMArena]

Samsung Galaxy S III: Concept rendering or leak?

It seems that the folks down at Concept Phones received an email with images attached (as pictured above) of a device that the person claims to be the Samsung Galaxy S III. That person went on to list down the specs of the device which to be honest seemed a little too good (and slightly outrageous) to be true, but we’ll let you decide.
According to Ivan Ilchenko, the person who leaked/created the rendering, the photo appeared on Samsung’s official page in Russia as well as on Russia’s social network Vkontakte. The device apparently features a 5” HD Super AMOLED display and is “Universal” phone that runs on both Android 4.0 and Bada OS, while powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos 4412 processor with TouchWiz 5 as its UI of choice.
Other specs include a 12MP camera, a 2MP front-facing camera, 32GB/64GB internal storage and support for a microSDXC card slot, a stylus, 4G LTE support, NFC and even USB 3.0. Is such a device even possible? Personally I drew the line at dual booting Android and Bada, but either way we suggest taking this with a grain of salt for now. At the very least we’re left with a pretty decent rendering of what the Samsung Galaxy S III could look like.

Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S won’t get ICS updates, sky continues to be blue

Considering how hard it is to get Android manufacturers to update nearly new phones to the latest official software version, it should be no surprise that Samsung has declined to upgrade the Galaxy S line of smartphones and the original Galaxy Tab to Ice Cream Sandwich. The company confirmed the news on its Samsung Tomorrow (translated) blog, disappointing many and surprising few. If you can read Korean or make sense of the Google translation, it looks like TouchWiz is a primary culprit.

Samsung notes that unlike Nexus phones, the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab require extra space for TouchWiz, video applications and carrier additions. There’s an obvious answer to that conundrum, Samsung, and it’s spelled A-O-S-P – just leave out the extra stuff that few are particularly fond of anyway, and you’ll be golden. But TouchWiz has become Samsung’s hallmark on the Android platform. It would be easy enough to send out a Galaxy S Ice Cream Sandwich ROM based on the software update now available for the near-identical Nexus S, but it appears that differentiation via TouchWiz is more conducive to “the best user experience”. It’s not especially good news, but at this point in Android’s evolution it’s unfortunately par for the course.
Of course, we would be lax in our editorial duties if we didn’t remind you that the carrier and manufacturer isn’t the only place to find software updates. Both the international version of the Galaxy S and the WiFi Galaxy Tab already have home-cooked Ice Cream Sandwich ROMs in the making, and they will probably only get better now that the Nexus S update is widely available. Official updates for the Galaxy S II and all the second generation versions of the Galaxy Tab should be ready by early next year. [via The Verge]

Samsung explains why older devices won’t get Ice Cream Sandwich

Samsung global recently revealed the Ice Cream Sandwich plans for its devices, and most of the expected candidates made it to the list. However there were a handful of notable exceptions – like the original Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab (the 7″ version). Now it couldn’t be a case of device specs: even the OG DROID is capable of running Ice Cream Sandwich, so what gives?

No reason was mentioned previously, but now it looks like Samsung Korea has cleared the air with a statement released yesterday. According to them, the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab both feature TouchWiz customizations and will not run smoothly on the hardware of the devices if they were ported over to Ice Cream Sandwich. From that statement, it seems that Samsung is unwilling to drop TouchWiz customizations just to give its customers the latest version of Android. Ouch.
Fortunately Android users will be able to rely on the developer community for third-party versions of Ice Cream Sandwich. Do you think Samsung explanation for not having Ice Cream Sandwich is a valid one? Would you prefer to keep the TouchWiz customizations or would you rather drop them in favor of a newer version of Android?

Verizon Galaxy Nexus modification will change your softkeys and their color

For Galaxy Nexus owners that just picked up their device from Verizon, you may finally have a reason to root your device. Yes, rooting does void your warranty – but it opens a world of new available features. Even though Verizon’s Nexus is fairly new, development has been progressing at an excellent rate. We recently discussed a battery mod compatible with the Android Revolution HD ROM for the Galaxy Nexus, and now there is a softkey mod that adds a “Search” softkey pictured as a magnifying glass to the right of the bottom menu buttons.


The softkeys are also available in different colors; personally, I prefer the ICS blue. It looks excellent. You can now expect support for both the 4.0.2 and 4.0.3 based ROMs, and as they are incorporated into future work – I’m sure the project will continue its support. Paired with the battery percentage modification, the Galaxy Nexus couldn’t feel more complete.
However, we haven’t had a chance to test out any of the newly developed kernels yet – and there are plenty out there. Most require the user to be on a 4.0.3 base, but until a few more bugs are worked out I plan on keeping a close eye out instead of continuously flashing the latest builds. If any of you are rocking a Galaxy Nexus, feel free to share with the community how much better/worse your battery life has become.
[via Rootzwiki]

Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs Nokia Lumia 800

We compare Samsung's flagship Android Ice Cream Sandwich phone, the Galaxy Nexus, against Nokia's premier Windows Phone 'Mango' handset, the Lumia 800.

Form
Samsung Galaxy Nexus - 135.5x67.9x8.9mm,135g
Nokia Lumia 800 - 116.5x61.2x12.1mm,142g
Visually both devices are very impressive with some distinctive and unique design features which help them stand out from the competition.
The Nokia Lumia 800 is a very sharp and angular handset being bluntly rectangular in shape and topped by a gently curved glass screen.
Build quality feels very impressive indeed, the phone uses an aluminium unibody and it’s probably one of the most well put-together handsets we’ve seen this year.
Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus is the polar opposite in terms of aesthetics, it’s all curves but it isn’t over-the-top – being a larger phone overall the longer lines compliment the slight curvature at either end of the device quite nicely.
Sadly, the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t feel quite so solid construction-wise as its opponent.
We have to give this round to the Nokia Lumia 800.
Winner – Nokia Lumia 800
Display
Nokia’s Lumia 800 has a relatively small display at 3.7-inches but it makes up for this with incredibly sharp picture quality thanks to the use of a Samsung AMOLED screen and Nokia’s own ClearBlack technology.
It features multi-touch support and reinforced Gorilla Glass, while the 480x800 pixel resolution grants a pixel density clocking in at 252 pixels-per-inch (ppi).
It’s one of the best displays on a Windows Phone we’ve seen to date, the screen is bright and crystal clear with vivid colours which really pop out at you.
The Galaxy Nexus uses Samsung’s own Super AMOLED technology, which is slightly better than the Nokia’s ‘vanilla’ AMOLED and it’s a pretty big slate of glass at 4.65-inches.
Despite its large size, Samsung has managed to keep the pixel density very high indeed, a 720x1280 pixel resolution results in 316ppi.
Multi-touch is again supported and an oleophobic coating protects the screen from oily fingerprints.
Both displays are pretty amazing to behold and each manufacturer has clearly lavished a lot of effort and attention on these screens.
At the end of the day, however, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus goes that extra mile, not only is it a substantially sized display, making media easier and more satisfying to view, but it achieves this without compromising on picture quality and goes so far as to offer some of the best available. It’s very impressive stuff indeed.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Storage
Samsung’s flagship Android Ice Cream Sandwich phone has two options for storage, with choices of either 16GB or 32GB onboard. Processing power is supplemented by 1GB of RAM.
The Nokia Lumia 800 only has the 16GB option for internal capacity which, while ample, is half the top-end offered by Samsung’s device. It’s also slightly behind on the RAM side of things with around half the memory of the Galaxy Nexus at 512MB.
Neither smartphone is fitted with a card slot, meaning there’s no option to expand storage space with microSD.
Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus wins this round by doubling up on the Lumia 800’s offerings.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Processor
Discussing the processors between Android and Windows Phones is a tricky thing, because you invariably run up against the issue of how the two platforms work in relation to optimisation.
However, the Galaxy Nexus is a little different from most other Android phones.
The problem with Android normally is it’s a one size fits all system which isn’t optimised very well, but this isn’t an issue on the Galaxy Nexus because, as it’s the Android Ice Cream Sandwich flagship device Samsung has worked closely with Google to get everything as finely tuned as possible.
The Galaxy Nexus uses a dual core ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1.2GHz and running the Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 chipset alongside a PowerVR SGX540 graphics processing unit (GPU).
Performance on this setup is going to be something pretty special, especially with the extra optimisation and tuning.
Nokia’s Lumia 800 runs on single core hardware but again it’s been well optimised and offers really good performance from its 1.4GHz Qualcomm Scorpion processor running the MSM8255 Snapdragon chipset and an Adreno 205 GPU.
Both offer excellent performance in terms of typical smartphone tasks and navigating their respective interfaces.
However, the Galaxy Nexus will handle high-end apps and games with demanding graphics much more capably and will remain the more competitive option looking ahead to the future.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Nexus


Operating System
Microsoft’s Windows Phone ‘Mango’ platform, which the Nokia Lumia 800 runs, is a refreshing and innovative system to use.
It completely shuns the conventional ‘desktop’ style homescreens populated by app shortcuts found on Android, iOS and BlackBerry OS.
Instead, it opts for a continuous scrolling interface populated by ‘Live Tiles’ which push useful app information to the surface, rather like miniaturised widgets.
Social networking integration and the merging of communication methods (including email, text, instant messaging and calls) is excellent on Windows Phone, there is currently no other platform which gets you connected so easily.
It’s not perfect, however, for a start there is a severe lack of apps comparative to Android and iOS and many apps which are free on these other platforms come with a price tag on Windows Phone.
Windows Phone also doesn’t feature true multi-tasking but rather a substitute which, while better than nothing, can at times be frustrating.
Essentially, apps are put into hibernation in the background but do not continue to function.
Switching between them is commendably easy but unlike competing platforms you cannot, for example, put a social networking app to sleep and expect it to update.
This doesn’t affect the integrated feed from the People Hub, but sometimes you might want more direct control through an official app and it’s annoying that they cannot perform any background tasks.
Android’s multi-tasking remains unsurpassed, the system handles multiple running programs with ease and the intuitive quick-switching menu has made the jump from the tablet-only Honeycomb build. You can also swipe apps away with gestures, which is nice.
In many other ways Ice Cream Sandwich seems like it’s simply playing catch-up with its tablet-only predecessor, Honeycomb, and Apple’s iOS.
It’s a decent system but it’s not the exceptional revolution many were waiting for.
Everything has been given a facelift and the interface is reasonably intuitive – things are where you expect them to be.
While Windows Phone looks nice and feels different it could have been a much more customisable platform, generally speaking, while we loved the social networking integration for a heightened sense of being ‘plugged in’ to our social circles, most other areas left us wanting and, frankly, made us miss Android and iOS.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Camera
The Lumia 800 has an 8-megapixel primary camera at a 3264x2448 pixel resolution and capable of 720p video capture.
Regardless of the megapixel count and boasted Carl Zeiss designer optics something about this setup can’t be particularly good because, when reviewing the phone we found the results were not that impressive.
It features a dual LED flash, autofocus, touch focus, geo-tagging, digital zoom, exposure control and white balance.
Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus is equally disappointing with its lacklustre 5-megapixel primary camera at 2592x1936 pixels.
Video capture is 1080p but it’s unimpressive in practice – the Galaxy S2’s setup is much better.
Features-wise it has autofocus, LED flash, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, digital zoom, white balance, panoramic capture mode and a 1.3-megapixel secondary camera.
Neither device wins here, we’re calling it a draw but that doesn’t mean they’re equal, it just means they’ve both failed to deliver decent cameras as far as premium flagship phones are concerned.
Winner - Draw

Final Thoughts
By now it probably sounds as though we prefer the Galaxy Nexus over the Lumia 800, but this isn’t actually the case.
When it comes down to it, we feel the Lumia 800 is a much more complete and well-thought-out smartphone.
The Lumia 800 has lived up far more to our expectations of what a Nokia flagship Windows Phone should be, while the Galaxy Nexus has left us wanting more from Samsung.
The Galaxy S2 proves Samsung can create a much better Android phone than the Galaxy Nexus despite its extraordinary screen and all the perks of the ICS platform.
We really like Windows Phone ‘Mango’ but it has its limitations which made us want to go back to other platforms.
This isn’t a weakness of Nokia’s handset itself though and, so far at least, Microsoft has been exemplary at rolling out updates across the board.
In time the Lumia 800 will certainly change and likely for the better. It’s uncertain whether the same can be said for the Galaxy Nexus.