Samsung Galaxy Note landing Q1 2012?

Is the 5.3in Samsung Galaxy Note a smartphone? Is it a tablet? Who cares? We want one! We reckon the Samsung Galaxy Note is one of the sexiest devices to get the official check-me-out treatment in a long time, and Samsung tells SlashGear it should be landing in the UK in Q1 2012.

We’re slightly disappointed that Santa won’t be dishing out Samsung Galaxy Notes, but spare a thought for our transatlantic cousins; a Samsung Galaxy S II-esque delay is anticipated.
On top of its gargantuan Super AMOLED 1280 x 800 display, the Samsung Galaxy Note promises a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 8MP/2MP camera combo, and removable 2,500mAh battery.
In keeping with the trend for super-slim devices, the Samsung Galaxy Note is just 9.65mm thick.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I really want one.

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Why could the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 get banned in the United States?

According to Apple, Samsung and their Galaxy Tab 10.1 Tablet PC should have listened to the old radio serials and Lamar Cranston of The Shadow. Popular in the 1930s, Lamar Cranston was a wealthy man about town who kept his secret identity as The Shadow hidden from the criminals he foiled. With an ESP-like quality to read minds, the tagline opening every radio broadcast was, “What evil lurks in the minds of men? The Shadow knows!” Evidently the boys and girls at Apple believe they have Lamar Cranston’s mind reading ability when it comes to the design of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Tablet PC.
After a successful victory earning an injunction on all sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Tablet in Germany until September 9, at which time the judge will reveal her final ruling in the matter after both sides present their arguments, an Australian court recently received a similar lawsuit by Apple. In Australia, Samsung voluntarily withdrew their product while the judges hash out an outcome. In both cases, Apple claims that the insidious execs at Samsung created a product intentionally close to identical to that of their massive runaway Tablet hit, the iPad 2.

And certainly, if any company wanted to guarantee sales, copying what is the best Tablet by far would not be a bad idea, were it not for copyright infringement. And that is exactly what Apple is claiming. Do the two tablets appear similar? Yes, but so do several 10 inch tablets. And whether you side with one manufacturer or the other, the inevitable question remains. If Germany and Australia outlaw the sale of Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tab tablets, can filing of an American lawsuit by Apple be very far behind.
While there is no current injunction on sales in the US, an Apple victory in that regards would be a win of mammoth proportions, and would no doubt be the first of a string of allegations by consumer-electronics firms everywhere. With the final German ruling less than a week away, the Australian judge ruling in that venue will certainly no doubt be taking notice of the German outcome. And that means that any future US judges would no doubt use those two courts as precedents for their decision. Return here regularly for daily updates as we receive them.

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Acer W4 vs Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S

We compare the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S with a rumoured Windows Phone 7 Mango known as the Acer W4

As we near the release of Windows Phone 7's Mango update, interest in the platform is rightfully increasing. Many people are keen to see exactly what the operating system has matured into and one device which looks set to show-off the update's capabilities is Acer's Mango powered Acer W4.
In the interest of impartiality we've chosen to pitch the Acer W4 against a little Android competition in the shape of Sony Ericsson's up and coming Xperia Arc S – a device that is looking to build on the solid reputation of its predecessor.
We're operating within the confines of speculation again this week, folks, so do remember that what we're discussing isn't the finished, or even confirmed, article.

Power
If the rumours circulating can be trusted we can expect the Acer W4 to launch with a 1GHz Qualcomm CPU and at least 512MB RAM which, although sufficient for most tasks, isn't going to set the world alight in a market that is anxiously awaiting its first quad-core powered smartphones.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S has a little bit more muscle though, with a 1.4GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU and 512MB RAM, giving it victory in this opening round.
Winner - Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S

Display
Acer's W4 looks set to include a 3.6-inch WVGA  touchscreen, which will operate at a resolution of 480 x 800 and offer a fairly impressive pixel density of 259ppi.
Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc S features a 4.2-inch LED-backlit LCD screen that operates at a resolution of 480 x 854 and offers a pixel density of 233ppi, making it a decent choice for those that enjoy watching movies or TV shows on their device.
There's plenty to be said for high quality, smaller screens though and we think people will appreciate the Acer W4 irrespective of it lacking a few millimetres in the screen department.

Winner - Draw

Camera
The Xperia Arc S offers an 8-megapixel primary camera with auto-focus, LED flash, face & smile detection, 3D sweep panorama and Geo-tagging, making it a pretty well rounded package for those that snap a lot of photos on the go.
The device will also feature a secondary, front-facing camera, though we aren't sure what size yet.
The Acer W4 looks set to be outfitted with the bare minimum required of Windows Phone 7 devices, which, of course, is a 5-megapixel sensor with autofocus and LED flash.
There's no word yet on what other camera functionality the device will have, or whether it will feature a secondary video-call camera.
Winner - Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S

Operating System
Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc S will ship with version 2.3.4 of Google's Android OS, otherwise known as Gingerbread – a pretty well rounded, stable and secure release of the software.
Users can also expect to find Sony Ericsson's own TimeScape UI included too, which brings custom widgets, apps and social networking integration along with a neat timeline driven user interface.

Acer's W4 will launch with the newest iteration of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform, which brings a lot of new features to the platform, such as a new unified inbox for all communications, new and improved multi-tasking and Internet Explorer 9.
Naturally both platforms offer tons of apps and games for download, but Windows Phone 7 has a way to go before it catches up with Android in this respect, giving the Xperia Arc S the edge.
Winner - Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S

Form & Build
There's no word on dimensions for the Acer W4 yet, but we're expecting a device that doesn't deviate terribly from the path set by previous Windows Phone 7 devices.
In terms of materials we're expecting lightweight plastics and a decent build quality, but again it doesn't look anything special.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S measures up at 125 x 63 x 8.7 mm and weighs a modest 117g, making it a fairly pocket-friendly smartphone.
We hope Sony Ericsson has put a little bit more effort into the build quality of the Arc S though, as its predecessor exuded a pound-shop feel which belied the device's underlying quality.
Winner - Draw
And there you have it. A pretty resounding victory for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S.
The device looks to be a solid addition to the Xperia stable, and a decent upgrade on the previous device. The improved power on offer will make the lag that afflicted the original Arc a thing of the past.
Thankfully the specs for the Acer W4 aren't written in stone. We might see a device that has been nipped, tweaked and updated by the time it reaches market, and we hope that this is the case.
As it stands though, the Acer W4 is a device that looks dated by today's standards and has little of note under the bonnet.
Unless Acer is planning to price the device very aggressively we can't see it making much of a splash.

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HTC Flyer Honeycomb Screenshots and Instructions Appear

In case you were all busy preparing for this holiday weekend, Friday we brought news regarding Honeycomb on the HTC Flyer. What happened is a RUU build of Honeycomb 3.2 with Sense UI for tablets was leaked for the HTC Flyer, a device we still weren’t sure would even get the update to Honeycomb in the first place. MoDaCo’s Paul O’Brien and many others have been working hard and things are developing already.


While the developers are still hard at work getting this safely and easily flashable for users to enjoy we are now starting to at least see some screenshots as well as instructions for those that dare take the early plunge. The developers at xda globatron posted a few screenshots seen above and was nice enough to also provide instructions for flashing Honeycomb on your own Flyer. I wont give details here as the process is very involved and not very stable at the moment but Paul O’Brien and other devs should have things running in no time.
So far things looks great and according to globatron, most apps and games work fine but the device would rather be in portrait mode and a few apps are being cut off in landscape. Remember this is a leaked development build and in no way the final product from HTC although things look very similar to the recently released HTC Jetstream.

It appears we will have a flashable zip for users to try soon enough, and the update will probably be coming from HTC here in the next month or two, we hope. Stay tuned for more details as this all gets uncovered.
[via XDA]

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HTC Sensation ROM provides 1.56GHz Overclock

It appears that the developer known as mike1986 has created a lovely new ROM for the HTC Sensation specifically which bumps the device’s processor speed up to 1.56 GHz. While this device’s original dual-core processor speed was clocked at 1.2GHz, this ROM provides the device with the original stock speed of its MSN8660 chipset, that being 1.51GHz by default, here controlled automatically by built-in O/C Daemon. In addition to this speed boost, you’ll find that there’s only speed boosts and power optimizations across the board: that means your device will look and feel exactly the same, it’ll just be BETTER!

This brand new ROM offers such lovely bits as full Arabic and Hebrew languages, an oddity in this generally Romantic-language-heavy Android world, the ability to work with all different HTC Sensation versions including the HTC Sensation 4G (US T-Mobile) with support for Wi-Fi calling and Visual Voice Mail. Battery life has reportedly be increased, improved EXT4 performance with a new mounting method, SD card EXT4 partition support, and built-in easy ability to change your boot animation – neato! Of course once you’re rooted on any Android device this is as simple as replacing one zipped folder of images with another, but easier is easier!
There’s improved Andreno200 configuration, RAM optimizations, SD Card speed tweak, battery auto-calibration, auto-removal of bloatware applications (including what they’ve decided were bloatware, of course, that being Amazon MP3, SoundHound trial, and etc), all system apps updated to their latest versions, and somehow or another improved camera performance. And your 3D engine has been overclocked from 266.6MHz to 320MHz. And you’ve got a GPU+ patch for improved graphics performance in 2D and 3D. And you’ve got the latest official HTC RUU 1.45.401.2 and Gingerbread 2.3.4 if you didn’t have them already.
That’s – what – everything you could possibly ever want?
Go check it out on XDA Developers and let us know how it goes! Makes you wonder if it’ll be worth moving over to the HTC Amaze 4G or not — perhaps the slightly more awesome physical build on the Sensation will continue to win you over? Also note that there’s a perhaps slightly involved 1.7GHz overclock out there as well
- as we speak!

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Sensation 4G

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : T-Mobile

Announced Date : April 12, 2011

Release Date : May 19, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.30 Inch
• Resolution : 540x960
• Screen Type : qHD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 4.96 Inch
• Width : 2.57 Inch
• Depth : 0.44 Inch
• Weight : 148 Grams

Battery & Power

• Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1520 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 350 hours

Software

• Android OS:
• 2.3.x

• Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

• Video Playback:
• 3GP
• MPEG-4 (MP4)
• WMV

• Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Snapdragon

CPU Clock Speed : 1200 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 768 MB

Internal Storage : 4 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution :8 MP

• External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

• Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

• Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

• Network Technology:
• GSM

• GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

• Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

• Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

• Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

[via XDA]

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to get Android app

Before you get all excited about MW3 coming to Android devices, I need to tell you that the app is not a smartphone version of the game. That means you can’t play MW3 on the go. The app is designed to allow you to customize your load out while on the go so your character will be ready to fight when you get back to the full game. The load out customization has just about all the things you can customize in the game.

That means you can customize your weapons, perks, and kill streaks. The app will be a free download and will be free to use. If you subscribe to Call of Duty Elite, you will get more features than those that just download the free app. Considering what a new game goes for today all the features should be free in my opinion.
The app should support all the platforms so you can use it for the PS3, Xbox, and PC platform the game supports. The app will be offered on both the iPhone and Android devices. I can’t wait for the game to come out, but I am not sure about the app. What do you think, is this a useful app or not?
[via TechnoBuffalo]

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Samsung Conquer 4G offers great specs with a killer price on the Sprint Network

The past few weeks has seen Sprint’s 4G wireless network become home to more than a couple one penny smartphones as the wireless provider gets very aggressive with their pricing model. The wireless marketplace in America is a dog eat dog daily competition to protect one’s own market share while increasingly attempting to take market share from your competition. Sprint is solidly entrenched in the number two position for wireless market share in the United States, behind dominant top spot holder Verizon, and right ahead of AT&T. One way to instantly attract market share away from your competitors, especially during tough economic times, is with a lower retail price then they offer for a similarly featured handset, and the Samsung Conquer 4G benefits from this wise marketing move. The Samsung Conquer 4G offers Android’s Gingerbread operating system support out-of-the-box, and promises over the air upgrades as they are released. The Conquer 4G also delivers a rarity in smartphone technology. Not all handsets or wireless platforms offer simultaneous data access while making a call. With the Conquer 4G you can browse the web, download apps and other data, and access other screens without having to terminate your voice call.

Also, the Samsung Conquer 4G acts as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five additional devices. This means that wirelessly the Conquer 4G acts as a hub so your other consumer electronics can enjoy 4G speeds. The display on the Conquer 4G is 3.5 inches and delivers 320 x 480 pixel resolution. That is a capacitive touchscreen, and also supports multiple gesture navigation. The Conquer 4G offers a rear facing 3.2 megapixel camera with VGA quality resolution and the ability to record at 30 frames per second, and the accompanying 1.3 megapixel front facing chat cam also delivers voice call capability.
512 MB of RAM memory and 1.0 GB of ROM memory are on board, up to 32 GB of storage is available through the microSD slot, a microUSB port is present, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity are also delivered. Samsung intended the Conquer 4G as an entry-level smartphone as opposed to a full-featured high-end Android handset, and Sprint’s pricing confirms this designation.

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iPhone 5 manufacturing kicks off without iOS 5, report claims

Apple’s manufacturing partners have reportedly begun assembling the iPhone 5 according to a new report from Macotakara, which has a mixed track record. The report follows news from this morning that German Apple carrier partner Deutsche Telekom has already begun pre-sales of the next-generation Apple smartphone. Foxconn, which will supposedly handle roughly 85% of iPhone 5 production, and Pegatron, which has picked up a contract for the remaining 15%, are said to have ramped up assembly ahead of Apple’s official announcement of the device, which is expected as soon as next week. Citing information from an anonymous source, the report also notes that finished devices are not yet being packaged, as the release build of iOS 5 has not yet been finalized.
Read

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HTC Jetstream hamstrung by AT&T pricing, but it is now available

Last week when the AT&T Jetstream broke cover at IFA I mentioned the pricing of the tablet and ran down the specs. The price was certainly a lot of money, but if you can bring yourself to spend that much loot the Jetstream is now available. I am still surprised at the pricing; this is not the way to get people to buy a new Android tablet instead of the iPad 2 or other offering. It’s really too bad because the Jetstream seems to be a really awesome tablet on paper.

AT&T has listed the price of the Jetstream with no commitment at $849.99. That means you don’t have to have the 2-year data plan. If you want that 2-year plan on data for the tablet, the price is $699.99 and then you have to spend at least $35 monthly for data access. By comparison, the 16GB iPad 2 is $629 with no data commitment, the 32GB version is $729.99, and the 64GB version is $829 and the data plans are cheaper with the iPad starting at $14.99. Pay as you go data plans if you choose the no commitment pricing on the Jetstream may be lower and more in line with iPad offerings
The Jetstream does give you some nice hardware inside with HSPA+ and 4G support, a 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor with dual-cores, and an 8MP rear camera with 1.3MP front camera. The battery inside the Jetstream is 7,300mAh and the tablet has a 10.1-inch screen. It runs Android 3.1 and will support both touch input and the Scribe digital pen that is bundled with the tablet.

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