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]

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Budget-priced Ice Cream Sandwich Tablet Ready for Pre-oreder in the US

Ainovo’s low-priced Novo 7, one of the first tablets to sport Ice Cream Sandwich, may finally be making its way to the United States. The slate was announced earlier this month for a release in China, at the time priced at an extremely reasonable $100. Throw on the $60 shipping fee that some sites were charging to import the tablet and the deal became a little less sweet. The 7-inch Novo 7 with 1GHz CPU has gone on pre-order through several US retailers at a slightly marked up priced of $120, a bit pricier but still better than having the device shipped in from China. Get it here or here.
[via AndroidCommunity]

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Huawei Ascend 2 announced for US Cellular

If you’re in the market for a new low-end Android device because you’re new to the platform or you just need a temporary device until your next phone or you’re just broke, Huawei’s latest offering on US Cellular might fit the bill. Called the Huawei Ascend 2, this phone features a 3.5″ 320 x 480 display, a 5-megapixel camera, a 600MHz processor, Android 2.3, a preloaded 2GB microSD card and a 1,400mAh battery.
The phone will cost you nothing (after a $100 rebate) with a 2-year contract so it should be perfect for the reasons mentioned above. It’s no Android superphone, but the Ascend 2 isn’t too shabby-looking and if you’re not doing anything but basic smartphone tasks, it should be more than capable. Head over to US Cellular’s website for more details.

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Verizon customers hit by data outages across the US

US mobile operator Verizon appears to be suffering from extensive data outage issues across the US, with many of its customers heading to the company’s community forums to complain at the lack of mobile data on their handsets.
The nation’s second biggest carrier is reported to have lost both 3G and 4G network connectivity in Long Island, Manhattan, Las Vegas, Richmond and a number of other US states and cities, but the company itself has yet to issue a statement on how extensive the outages may be and when they can be expected to be rectified.

Customers have taken to Twitter to voice their complaints, as noted by The Verge, notifying the operator of problems on its network (if they weren’t aware already).
The outage marks the second time in two weeks that the operator has had issues with its networks, with customers in Houston, Boston, Iowa and New Hampshire reported problems accessing the company’s data services.
We have reached out to Verizon to identify the issue and will update the article should we receive a response. If you are a Verizon customer, let us know if you have access in your area — and if you don’t, let us know when or if it comes back!

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HTC and Google comment on US Apple patent loss – Andy Rubin “optimistic” about the future

HTC’s boss Peter Chou and Android top man Andy Rubin have both gone on the record regarding the recent high-profile patent loss to Apple, which had some excitable people claiming HTC’s phones could be banned from sale in the US.
That won’t happen. Chou says the infringing feature has already been removed, while Rubin is pleased that the ruling only covers user interface touches rather than anything deep within Android itself.
Rubin said:
“The majority of these patents [in Apple's complaint against HTC] were claimed in the operating system itself, but actually in this case what was allowed… is some user interface feature of an application, not the operating system itself, so that’s why I’m very optimistic in basically my desire to achieve patent peace on the overall platform.”

He has in his hand a piece of paper…

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New Galaxy Note gets Snapdragon processor, hints at US launch

Not too long ago Michael was bummed that the Samsung Galaxy note hybrid tablet/smartphone wasn’t offered in the US. The tablet had crossed the FCC in the past, but as Michael pointed out that doesn’t always mean the tablet is headed to the States. Another new model of the Galaxy note has now been spied. This time it looks like the tablet may actually be bound for the US.

On the Galaxy S II smartphones that are for international use, the phone uses the Enxyos processor. However, when the S II came to the States Samsung changed to the Snapdragon chip. This is apparently because the Snapdragons work better with the HSPA+ networks that AT&T and T-Mobile operate in the US.
The new Galaxy Note with part number SGH-I171 that has been spied is packing that Snapdragon processor so it would seemingly be bound for the US. The tablet also has 4G LTE as well. This is an interesting device with a 5-inch display and 1280 x 800 resolution that skirts the gap between tablets and smartphones. Gottabemobile expects the Note to hit AT&T in early 2012.
[via SlashGear]

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NPD: Android passes 50% market share in the US

Android has been making a beeline to the top of the smartphone world for the last two years, and it looks like the little green OS that could has passed one of its biggest milestones yet. Research firm NPD says that Android runs on 53% of the smartphones being used in the US. No other OS comes close, with iOS in a distant second at 29%. If mobile operating systems were horses, Android would lead by about two and a half lengths.

But the really interesting numbers come in at the third place and lower contenders. RIM’s BlackBerry continues its downward slide with just 8 percent of the market, and Microsoft’s Window Phone 7 presence is sitting at just 2%. Compare that to a 50% market share for Windows Mobile four years ago. Android and iOS, the only mobile operating systems making concrete gains, combine for a whopping 82% of the market. Worldwide Android activations are creeping up on 200 million, beating iOS in just about every market. In some places like the UK and China, Android reached the halfway point even faster.

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HTC Throwing “Chill With Us” Party In Hollywood, CA – Open To The Public!

HTC is throwing another one of their famous meet-up parties in beautiful Hollywood, CA this Wednesday, December 14th at the Lexington Social House. Simply titled, “Chill With Us,” HTC throws these parties just about every year as a way of giving back and having a good time with the fans that helped make them a success. There will be free food, drinks and plenty of schmoozing. Here’s what HTC had to say on their Facebook page:

…on a wintery night and enjoy the very best in sound and sight.
We’ll be hosting a party at the Lexington Social House with bites and cocktails for all.
And, of course, there will be the latest HTC phones on display for those of you with dreams of megapixels dancing in your heads
RSVP in the upper right and plan to bring friends.
Ages 18 and up

Doors open at 7pm. There is no entry fee and all HTC asks is you RSVP on their Facebook page if you plan on attending. I went last year and had an awesome time meeting new Android peeps from around the So Cal area. Anyone plan on making the trip this year?
[Facebook]

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U.S. Cellular upgrades the original Samsung Galaxy Tab to Gingerbread

Still got your original Samsung Galaxy Tab from U.S. Cellular? Then today is a good day. Assuming that you’re still running the stock firmware, you can download an update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread from Samsung’s site and install it at your leisure. Better late than never, right?

Though Gingerbread won’t bring the full tablet interface seen on the Galaxy Tab’s younger descendants, there are definitely plenty of reasons to upgrade. Better resource optimization, an updated and generally smoother UI and better support for various apps should be reason enough for you to download. You’ll need a PC to initiate the upgrade; unfortunately, it can’t be done over the air or by simply jumping in to your recovery.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that the Galaxy Tab has seen far more support in the dev/mod community than it has from Samsung or any of its carriers. The Gingerbread-based CyanogenMod 7 is a solid choice for a custom ROM with great reliability and support. It even includes tablet features in the latest version, like a lower-screen status bar. If you’re the adventurous type, you can try an early version of Ice Cream Sandwich and make all your buddies rocking the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus jealous.

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Galaxy Nexus on sale in Canada, Americans still out of luck

Oh Verizon, why do you vex us so? Just as planned, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is now on sale at Canadian wireless carriers Virgin Mobile and Bell, giving the Great White North a taste of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Subscribers can get the Galaxy Nexus for $159.99 from either carrier, though naturally you’ll have to sign up for a new two-year three-year contract or renew an existing one. Rogers is still planning a release for January.

The Canadian version is the same HSPA+ model that’s been on sale in the UK and circulated for press reviews – Verizon is still the only carrier confirmed to eventually receive an LTE version. On both Canadian carriers the phone is unbranded, like previous Nexus phones. Notably the Canadian Nexii are more than $140 cheaper than the leaked $299 Verizon price, and the unlocked model comes in at $649, while Verizon is probably pricing their model at $799. To be fair, both Canadian carriers are selling the 16GB version. Unless Virgin or Bell requires an activation with an unlocked model, northern US citizens should be able to make a run across the border and buy one full-price for use on AT&T or T-Mobile.
With just one day until the previously rumored launch of December 9th, it looks like Verizon has left its customers out in the cold yet again. The latest rumors indicate that indeed the December 9th date has been scrapped, with no indication of when the phone might actually go on sale. Verizon subscribers and prospective customers are growing increasingly angry at the company’s total lack of communication – aside from the signup page (which still has yet to send any sort of verification) and a short sentence in a PR message, there’s no official word from the company at all.

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ComScore: 41 million US smartphone owners use Android

Android is dominating the worldwide smartphone game, and while there are markets where it’s even more dominant than it is in the United States, a combination of population and smartphone interest makes it one of the hottest markets on the planet. Android’s continuing gains were highlighted by Nielsen last month, and comScore backs up their numbers with the latest reports on the US mobile market. According to comScore’s math, 41.6 million Americans now use Android-powered smartphones.

That’s 46.3% of all US smartphones,which now number approximately 90 million. The second banana is Apple’s iOS, which has 28.1% of the market, which figures out to 25.3 million iPhones. Unsurprisingly, BlackBerry and Windows-based phones fell again, to 17.2% and 5.6%, respectively. These statistics are for the month of October 2011, when total smartphone ownership in the U.S. grew 10% overall from the last quarter. Android and iOS together made up two-thirds of the smartphone userbase.
There’s two things that we can take away from this report: one, total smartphone adoption in the US is growing fast enough for multiple OS and device makers to increase their sales at the same time, and two, Android may be approaching a saturation point within the next year. With nearly half the smartphone market running Google’s OS, and Apple controlling a the majority of what’s left, the two giants are essentially fighting over users that are abandoning the arguably weaker platforms of Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry, Symbian and others.
If you extrapolated that in the next year, half of all users from other platforms switched to Android, a quarter switched to iOS and another quarter stayed put, that would give Android a 59.1% share of the market, with iOS trailing at 34.5. That’s a very optimistic projection from an Android point of view (and, just to be clear, absolutely unscientific). That said, the continued expansion of the smartphone market in the US and worldwide makes it an imperative for just about every manufacturer and developer.
[via Fierce Mobile Content]

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US judge denies Apple injunction – Samsung sales are safe for now

It’s a good evening for Truth, Justice and the American Way, even if those on the receiving end are Korean. Reuters reports that late Friday the judge on the docket in Apple’s suit against Samsung in the United States threw out the case, stating that an injunction on Samsung’s devices would not prevent serious damage to Apple’s sales. It’s the most significant development yet in a case that’s been going on since April of this year.

In the U.S., Apple claimed that the Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 10.1 violated its design patents, bearing a resemblance to the iPhone and iPad, respectively. In November a judge ruled that Samsung’s tablet might indeed violate the patents, but expressed doubt that such was a justification for granting a sales injunction. District Judge Lucy Koh made good on those statements today, saying, “”It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung’s accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed.”
This isn’t the end of Apple’s litigious crusade. The Cupertino company will almost certainly appeal, though at this level of the U.S. civil court system it’s entirely possible that the appeal will be denied. Apple has a stable of patent firepower, and if this case fails completely they’re likely to fire back at Samsung with another in a few months, as they are already doing with rival Android manufacturer HTC. Apple has been particularly litigious against Samsung worldwide, particularly in Germany and Australia. Down under Apple won a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which is scheduled to lift on December 9th, baring a successful appeal. The injunction against the same model is still in place in Germany, though Samsung has released a revised Galaxy Tab 10.1N… which Apple promplty filed a lawsuit against.

It is to be hoped that a failure in the U.S. District court system, if indeed it comes to that, will influence Apple or at least other court systems to treat the company’s frivolous and vague design patents with more skepticism. Just today Apple’s requirements for a non-violating device were made public, including “a non-rectangular shape without rounded corners” and “a thicker profile”. Though Apple’s legal crusade against Android manufacturers (and notably not against Google) is likely to continue, the decisions handed down in the U.S. and Australia indicate that judicial systems worldwide are beginning to see the company’s flawed idea of a competitive market as just that: flawed.

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Nielsen: Android extends its lead in the US

No points for guessing who’s on top in the smartphone race. For the time period of July, August and September, Android’s U.S. market share grew from 39% to 42.8%, extending its lead once again. The Nielsen numbers match up pretty well with other statistical reports. The market is growing enough that Apple also increased its share, up to 28.3%. 44% of US mobile users now own a smartphone of one kind or another.

Breaking down the share of Android sales, HTC remains top dog in America with a 15% market share overall, with 35% of Android sales. Next is Motorola with 24.3%, followed closely by Samsung at 23.6%. That’s an interesting metric, considering that Samsung is far and away the top manufacturer of total phones worldwide. Other Android manufacturers made up nearly 17% of Android’s total, with just over 7% of total market share.
BlackBerry, Windows Phone/Mobile and Symbian continue their downward slide, despite the best efforts of their parent companies. So does WebOS, but calling HP’s bumbling any sort of “best effort” would be a disservice to little league baseball teams everywhere. Between the two of them, Android and iOS control 71% of the US smartphone market, and an eye-popping 83% of all mobile app downloads. Keep in mind that Q4 results are likely to skew a bit with the launch of the iPhone 5 iPhone 4S – that tends to happen when you only have one release every year.
[via SlashGear]

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Galaxy Nexus confirmed to launch this December

Last night we had a glimpse at a Best Buy flyer that may have been quite outdated. It seems Samsung has now confirmed the U.S. launch of device will certainly be in December. I’m sorry folks, but there is still no word on the actual day or price. The DROID RAZR debuted on Verizon for $299.99, so my guess is it will be fairly similar.

With the Europe already having access to GSM models of the Galaxy Nexus, we know it’s coming! There are only a couple reasons I assume they are putting us through this prolonged wait. One, there being a few issues with the hardware/software they are trying to work out. Two, like HiHoAg said in our forums, they may be lobbying to throw in some good ol’ Verizon bloatware.
No one wants to receive their precious Galaxy Nexus with any problems at all, so lets just stick it out and be glad when it gets here. Hopefully with no bloatware.

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Orange San Francisco II Smartphone unveiled on video

You all may remember the ZTE Blade, better know as the Orange San Francisco budget phone that was launched late last year. It ended up being more successful than many probably thought and now they have the big brother set to debut. This is the Orange San Francisco II and it should be available late this month.

It should be available on Orange’s pay monthly plans by the end of the month but no specific date was actually given. Along with the details we also have a hands-on video below. The SGII is also known as the ZTE Crescent features a 3.5″ display, Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, 5 megapixel camera with VGA front all powered by a single-core 800 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. Here is the video for your viewing pleasure:

San Francisco II


The Orange San Francisco II may not be a powerhouse or sport a dual-core processor, but the price is just as low as those quite decent specs. Coming in at £99 ($155) on an Orange PAYG plan or free with their pay monthly offerings. Either way this is a pretty decent phone for the price but most likely it’ll only be available on Orange UK. So anyone over in San Fran most likely wont be buying this phone any time soon.

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T-Mobile upgrades HSPA+ 4G in 11 more cities

Despite sticking with the older HSPA+ standard with no LTE plans in sight, T-Mobile continues to upgrade its existing network with commendable regularity. Today the carrier announced that 11 new cities will be getting the doubled speed standard that others have been enjoying for some time: Bend, Medford and Corvallis, Oregon, Benton Harbor, Michigan, Bloomington, Champaign–Urbana and Springfield, Illinois, Columbus, Georgia, Hagerstown, Maryland, Montgomery, Alabama and Yuba City, California.

The above cities will now enjoy HSPA+ with a maximum theoretical speed of 42Mbps down. That’s not to be sneezed at, since even on AT&T’s uncontested and relatively tiny LTE network, we could barely get above 20Mbps. T-Mobile says their network now covers 180 million Americans (which I’m sure is a wonderful comfort to the 120 million+ Americans who can’t get a single ever-loving bar). Notably for data-lovers, T-Mobile still offers unlimited data plans for smartphones, though customers are throttled after a certain limit.
T-Mobile has been particularly aggressive in expanding its 4G android lineup, currently lead by HTC’s Amaze 4G and the still solid Samsung Galaxy S II. T-Mobile’s tablet offerings are expanding as well: in addition to the Huawei-made Springboard, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is coming soon, both of which have HSPA+ 4G. After the Justice department denied AT&T’s approval to purchase its competitor, the future of T-Mobile is currently somewhat tenuous, but for the foreseeable future it remains an economical choice for those who spend most of their time in urban areas.

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Xperia arc S and Xperia neo V now available unlocked in the US

The latest in Sony’s maddening experiments in non-capitalization are now available in the United States. The Xperia arc S and Xperia neo V are available from Sony’s Ericsson’s online store, and should start popping up at various retailers next month. For the moment, each are only available in their unlocked and full-priced forms.


The Xperia arc S is an updated and expanded version of the original arc, with a 3.7-inch, 854 x 480 screen. The phone uses a speedy 1.4Ghz processor and 512MB of RAM, though unfortunately you’ll need a MicroSD card if you want more than the phone’s paltry 1GB of built-in memory. Connectivity options are impressive, with HDMA, DLNA and, USB host functionality (via the dock – not included). The camera is a full 8MP, with 72-p video recording at 30Mbps. The arc S costs $549.99 unlocked with AT&T HSPA+ bands.
The Xperia neo V (seriously, Sony, you’re killing me with this selective capitalization) uses the same 3.7-inch screen, but a slower 1Ghz processor. Elsewhere it has the same RAM and on-board storage specifications, though the camera is downgraded to a 5 megapixel model. The neo V gets a much lower price of $349.99.The phone will run on AT&T’s HSPA+ network.
Both phones run Android 2.3.4, just a few versions off of the latest available. It’s worth noting that Sony has said on multiple occasions that its current phones, including the arc S and neo V, would be receiving an Ice Cream sandwich update. The company did not mention when this update would be made available.

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United States QR code usage jumps 500%, still isn’t cool

Good news, scanning enthusiasts! Adults in the US are using QR codes and other barcode scanning apps five times as much as least year! Of course, since that’s a jump of 1% to 5%, there’s still less than one in twenty people who are actually using it. Considering that smartphones in general and Android in particular have seen a genuinely meteoric rise in the general phone market, the rate of QR adoption is positively pokey.

The figures are a little more rosy when you restrict them to only smartphone users. 15% of smartphone owners use a scanning app, up from 5% in 2010. Android users are more likely than anyone to use them, with almost a quarter using their phone as a scanner for one thing or another. Most of those that did use scanners were younger adults, with two-thirds of them falling between the ages of 23 and 46.
The study, performed by Forrester Research, gives gentle instruction for businesses to optimize the use of QR codes. Ideally they should be placed on a stable, easy-to access surface, with good lighting and – important – no  alternate connectivity. So placing a QR code next to a public access terminal probably wouldn’t be a very good idea. The most commonly-used codes were more than just a link to information, they were a call to action, like automatically starting a mini-transaction or entering the user into a contest.
[via ReadWriteWeb]

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Samsung Repp heads to US Cellular, will be free

Who’s excited to hear about another extremely entry level smartphone? Powerhouse quad-core phones aren’t for everyone, and Samsung knows that. Today US Cellular has announced a brand new entry level Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone to the line-up called the Samsung Repp. I’m a little confused on the name, but either way this will be a great deal because it’s being offered for free.

So what do you get for the low low price of free? The Samsung Repp is an Android 2.3 Gingerbread phone with a 3.2″ display, 3 megapixel camera, 2GB internal storage and will be chugging along with an 800 Mhz processor under the hood. This might not be a powerhouse but it should text, email, and play Angry Birds with ease.
For more details check out the product page at USCellular.com as it will share the full details and help persuade you into this neat little entry level handset. At least we have a large 1500 mAh battery that should last forever with that small screen and energy efficient processor (aka slow). The Samsung Repp will be a great alternative to the HTC Wildfire S, also available on US Cellular so if HTC Sense isn’t your thing then try the Samsung Repp instead. The Repp is listed as coming soon and for the awesomely low price of free, so hopefully we’ll hear more soon so those interested can go pick one up.
[via US Cellular]

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Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus Now Available And Shipping In The US

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus wasn’t supposed to be available until November 13th but it looks like the 7-inch tab has received the green light and is now shipping in the US. There are two models available — a 16GB version for $400 and a 32GB for $500. Both versions feature a 7-inch, 1024×600 resolution Super LCD display, dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 3MP rear/2MP front facing cameras, Android 3.x Honeycomb, micro SD slot and IR blaster for television connectivity.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus will be going head-to-head with the Kindle Fire this holiday season. I think the Tab Plus would have a fighting chance if only Samsung would lower the price of each model by $100. What do you guys think? Instant buy, pass or wait until the price drops?

[Via Amazon]

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